In a London borough where at least one in ten are unemployed, underprivileged East London teenagers have gone all out for their prom night, paying up to £100 ($152.51) pounds a day to rent Lamborghinis, Ferraris and even Bentleys to celebrate leaving school, the Daily Mail reports.
In a wacky (and expensive!) new craze that's currently sweeping Britain, teens finding new ways to get a taste of luxury in some of the country's poorest areas. While a one-bedroom flat in some parts of the economically struggling borough of Tower Hamlets cost as little as £70,000 ($106,827), the retail price for the cars the teens are renting cost up to £300,000 ($457,530).
"It's showing off, basically. Playing music, going from area to area to area," Foyzur Rahman, a student at Swanlea School who attended the ceremony this year and split a £400 fee with a friend to rent an Audi S4 for four days, told the Daily Mail. "Showing off your car, just everyone looking at you. It's like your spotlight."
This new trend has become something of a rite of passage for underprivileged teens living in Tower Hamlets, home to the largest Bangladeshi community in Britain. The majority of students taking part in the craze are of Bangladeshi origin.
Abdul Hasnath, a senior youth worker with the Osmani Trust youth and community organization, told the Daily Mail that the prom-like luxury car celebrations probably became popular 14 or 15 years ago with students hiring limousines, but have since gotten far more lavish, and much more expensive.
"It was quite small at that time, but obviously now it's probably the biggest date on their diaries, including Eid [a Muslim holiday] and everything else," he said.
For some teens, it's difficult to get together enough cash to pay for the extravagant event. Stephan Bolompa, a student at Swanlea, said that when he first asked his mother about renting a luxury car, he found out that it would take too much from the family budget.
He ended up joining friends in a borrowed Range Rover for the special event with the help of a friend's mother with a company connection.
"Just the feeling that you're actually taking part in the ceremony by having a car, it's a good feeling," he said.
Many of the students who are too young to drive hire drivers connected with neighborhood car companies before heading out for an exciting night. Teens often videos to Youtube of their luxury cars pumping hip-hop and R&B as they party it up in evening wear.
