Sibusiso Ngwenya founded his unique sock brand Skinny Sbu Socks in 2013, and has since become a global success. He has also partnered with Cadbury Lunch Bar and is taking the men’s fashion world by storm. Media Update sat down with him to find out all about his growing business, marketing strategy and his two year partnership with Lunch Bar.
By Michelle Strydom
From a young age, Ngwenya has been paying close attention to detail when washing his socks, and has developed a passion for socks and art over the years. He initially wore colourful socks to compensate for his long legs and short pants, which is where his own unique style comes from.
“Because of my height, I’ve struggled to finds pants that fit me properly so I compensated for the gap between my shoes and my pants by wearing colourful socks. I wore three-quarter pants a long time ago, before they were cool so that was my general style,” says Ngwenya.
Ngwenya turned into a businessman when he saw the opportunity to buy pairs of socks at a low price, and repackage and resell them for more than double the price. This resulted in Ngwenya creating his own brand that would be unique and nothing like existing sock brands.
“We make art. It’s easier to sell art. Art speaks to everybody, it’s global and it doesn’t depreciate, and once you look at it that way, it becomes easier for people to buy it and see it as a unique offering,” he says.
“Our previous collection featured a personal favourite of mine which was Picasso inspired, with different shapes and textures. We sat down with ten unknown designers and created a piece of different paintings and put them on a sock. And this time around we have a collection that’s called the ZA royalty collection, and these socks are named after original leaders, kings and queens of South Africa.”
In 2014, Ngwenya partnered up with Cadbury Lunch bar for a competition where the general public gets to design their own socks, and the winner’s design would be reworked and produced. Fast-forward one year later and he is featured as a partner of the Lunch bar ‘Hungry hustler’ taxi rank competition. His partnership with Lunch bar came a year after launching the sock brand and has confirmed the success of his brand.
“I grew up eating Lunch bar and 23 years later, getting a call from them asking to partner up with the brand is a dream come true. It puts a stamp of approval on what I’m doing and it means we are on the right course, and we should continue doing what we’re doing, the same way we’re doing it,” says Ngwenya.
Up to this point, Ngwenya has grown his business by partnering up with well-known local brands and spreading the word of his product on social media. Although Ngwenya does believe in the power of new media, he also has faith in traditional media to market a brand and grow its target audience.
I still believe that traditional media has a place. Magazines like GQ promotes international brands, so I would like my brand to be in those magazines and get the same exposure. Apart from traditional media, I would also like to reach our audiences on WhatsApp, interacting with them one-on-one.”
Ngwenya also has big plans for the marketing of his brand, collaborating with individuals whose brands ties in with his.
“In terms of our brand influences, we really want to partner up with individuals we feel resonate with the Skinny Sbu sock brand, people who are talented and all about the arts. That’s the future of marketing for the brand,” he says.
When asked about expanding his brand to a women’s and children’s range, Ngwenya answers with his simple motto
“Intensify before you diversify. I believe in doing one thing well and once you’re at the peak, you diversify to other things. There is a great demand from the ladies and children, but for now we’re still comfortable catering for the gentleman in a suit. I don’t know if we are going to diversify, but the brand is growing and there are more surprises to come this year and early next year.”