Alex hustlers with a heart for fellow strugglers

The Alex duo of Lindani Bhengu and Odirile Lesejane are hustlers with a soft heart for fellow strugglers in the hustling trade.

The pair are the co-founders and owners of a clothing brand called Sty Frsh [pronounced ‘stay fresh’] who run a hustling store at the Alexandra Heritage Centre, close to the home of the late founding father of a democratic South Africa President Nelson Mandela on the corner of 7th Avenue and Richard Baloyi Street.

The brand name comes from their struggles of growing up in a township without owning a sizeable wardrobe while harbouring this desire to have a constant supply of clothes to ‘stay fresh and relevant at all times’ when they meet ‘amanye amajita’ in the streets.

The duo then decided to stitch their clothes but due to constant harassment on the streets by people interested in their clothes, the idea of a hustle was born and the brand Sty Frsh was born in 2017 and patented two years later.

Their core business is designing and stitching clothes but since clothes need to be worn with the accompaniment of other items, they have also branched into producing handbags, shoes, pendants, sunglasses, beads, bangles, hats and caps still under the Sty Frsh brand.

But because of their soft heart for fellow hustlers in the township, Bhengu and Lesejane have opened up the doors of their stall to other hustlers in the painting trade to sell their wares alongside theirs.

“We still want more painters to come forward so we can hustle together,” said Bhengu.

Late last year, the pair designed costumes for a dance troupe that has been touring Dubai and other Middle East cities since November last year and are scheduled to return home in February.

“We also design bespoke items which are outfits a customer wants to wear for a particular event. Besides designing bespoke items, we also have a wardrobe in which we create outfits that artists can hire for their gigs etc and return after the show, including ordinary people who may also want to hire an outfit for an event or wedding,” Lesejane added.

Bhengu (30) and Lesejane (32) dream about opening their own trendy retail stores that sell their brand only. “We don’t want to put our brand in leading retailers but to open our own stores whether it’s in Joburg, Durban, Cape Town and Gqeberha,” Lesejane added.

Their only challenge is acquiring industrial machines that work harder. “We are currently using two domestic sewing machines and one of them has broken down and we can no longer mend clothes from the community as well to raise some petty cash for ourselves,” Bhengu said, adding that any donors will be welcomed.

Details: Odirile Lesejane 061 512 4593.

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