The Rise & Success of GALXBOY: South Africa’s Best Selling Streetwear Brand

GALXBOY is a South African streetwear brand which has its roots in the underground and rebellious youth street culture that dominates the urban centres of South Africa. GALXBOY is the brainchild of Thatiso Dube who is the founder and head designer of the brand.

In 2008, he saw a gap in the market for a brand that was designed by the youth for the youth, in particular, Millennials as well as Generation Z. Through ambition, perseverance and teamwork, GALXBOY was born.

Background

GALXBOY is the brainchild of Thatiso Dube, aka Tots or Mr Vuittots, who launched the brand back in 2008.

Originally from Mamelodi – a township in the east of Pretoria – Tots actually used to be a DJ growing up and wanted to study sound design or become a music producer but unfortunately, his parents refused and he ended up doing Auditing at the University of Pretoria.

When that didn’t work out, he discovered fashion. He started playing with Windows paint and started learning about layering and experimenting with different shapes.

A friend of his had a cracked version of Photoshop, so he sat in the bedroom for hours on end teaching himself Photoshop through YouTube tutorials and eventually cracked it. Towards the end of high school he moved to Centurion to live with his dad, where he met future Hip Hop superstar, Anatii, and the bromance was formed.

Anatii was an artist on the rise and Ama Kip Kip, popular t-shirt brand from South Africa, saw the talent and made him their ambassador.

During that time, Tots had no idea that black people could own clothing brands until he found Ama Kip Kip. So in other words, the brand indirectly made him realize that even he can make it into this fashion industry.

He gained enough confidence and came out with a logo and printed out a few T-shirts to give to his friends from school to wear during service, and up to the positive reception from his peers, the CHEESEBOY brand was founded.

The girls felt that the brand needed a girl’s version of CHEESEBOY, this gave Tots the idea of making one brand that combined both CHEESEGAL and CHEESEBOY but CHEESEGALXBOY was just too long and wouldn’t be relatable, so he removed the CHEESE at the beginning and left it as GALXBOY that most people are familiar with today.

The inspiration and the name for the design of GALXBOY is basically an equation of what girls do because of boys, and what boys do because of girls.

After selling his T-shirts, the brand gained popularity not only in Pretoria but the rest of Gauteng.

At the time it was simple, he wanted his brand out there, so he asked his parents to give him a gap year to focus on his brand. Fortunately, things worked out, his brand was being recognized by brands that he looked up to.

He then got headhunted by Nkosana Modise, the lead designer at Ama Kip Kip, to design for them. They offered him a salary of which he declined and rather asked for mentorship instead. So in exchange for designing the 2012 winter collection, Nkosana basically plugged them with everything he knows.

Nkosana and Ama Kip Kip brand ambassador at that time, rapper DA LES, were going to China in about two weeks to make the clothes for the new collection of Ama Kip Kip and they asked if Tots wanted to tag along.

Tots had his summer and winter collection designs ready and made a solid connection with different manufacturers.

He got back to South Africa where they officially launched the first store in Hatfield, hitting the R1 million revenue mark at the age of 24.

Artists started approaching him saying they need some of his gear for music video here, photoshoots there, so since he was already cozy with most of the cats in the music scene, it was very easy for them to post his stuff organically because they actually liked it.

Hip Hop acts such as Anatii, Khuli Chana and DJ Dimplez were some of the standard supporters. More brands started recognizing his efforts in the game and Castle Lite, one of South Africa’s best selling beer brand, approached him to produce limited edition merchandise as part of their experience for the first annual Castle Lite Unlocks Experience.

He has since collaborated with brands like Trace, MTV Base, Smirnoff and recently VW South Africa on their new Polo Vivo Mswenko Campaign.

These milestones allowed GALXBOY to pivot, it was no longer just a clothing brand but now a fully functional business. The brand has evolved into more of a supplier and manufacture in the local context.

GALXBOY has maintained its relevance for over 14 years, It’s a streetwear brand with a hint of luxury. The catch is they make it affordable in the South African market. On the iconic graphic tees to the minimalistic dome bags or embossed totes, which sell out like a Teflar bag, they have a good understanding of what South Africans want and how to keep that demand.

In more recent times, Tots has been about giving back to the community, he recently completed a luxury and fashion management course which has helped him helped other local brands by plugging them with finding the right manufacturers.

In late November, Nedbank collaborated with GALXBOY to create Youth X, a movement designed to unlock youth potential by inspiring them and providing them with resources they can help the entrepreneurial or career journeys.

Tots is one of the changemakers in the Arts & Culture category who are shaping trends in the fashion industry to empower and inspire the South African youth by giving them guidance and sharing knowledge.

Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs??

“Time is very important, there’s no shortcuts in business even if you have funding, there’s always something you have to give in order to get what you want and that’s time, everything takes time.

I have been working really hard for 10 years and I’m only seeing the fruits of my labour now in 2022, and this is the reason why I say start when you’re young, it’s the best time to go for it.”

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