Mswenko Footwear: The next big thing
Today, Mswenko Footwear operates in its warehouse in Midrand and has added an intern graphic designer onto the team.
For Kabelo Selekolo starting his sneaker brand has been a part of his dream for over eight years.
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32-year-old Selekolo is the latest South African entrepreneur to launch a foot wear brand which is gaining fast traction and celebrity endorsement since its launch in October 2022, joining the likes of Theo Baloyi and Lekau Sehoana.
Selekolo who has had a number of business ventures from an online magazine, to selling wooden watches, to a business developing websites and logos said he is not surprised where he finds him today.
“I’ve always been hustling but if you see the pattern in my previous businesses, none belonged to me, I would mainly buy to resell which meant I didn’t have control over the design or branding.
“So this is a full circle for me as an entrepreneur,” he says with a laugh.
According to the entrepreneur, the business was founded after not finding the perfect shoe to fit his then lifestyle. This for an avid sneaker collector straight from tertiary at the time prompted the idea for an alternative shoe.
He explains that he wanted to create a shoe that would be a versatile, all-in-one shoe sneaker, something none of the existing brands offered.
“The idea of the sneaker dates back to 2014, after landing my first job I bought sneakers almost every month and I liked to jog after work. I remember asking if there was an “all-in-one” type of a shoe.
“A sneaker that I could wear casually but also on my runs however I let the idea die until in recent years I knew I had to revisit it.”
The research into the making of the shoe and market research began in 2021 while work with manufacturers and sampling process got underway much of 2022, taking up over 10 months before he could launch.
Selekolo explains that he wanted to create a durable, value for money sneaker.
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“I had already had the functionality in mind. The next thing was the silhouette of the shoe because it needed to be modern. I wanted something light on the feet especially on the upper so we used a material called mash. The sole is E.V.A which explains why they are so light. It also needed to be comfortable and have ventilation.”
Today, Mswenko Footwear operates in its warehouse in Midrand and has added an intern graphic designer onto the team.
Like any start-ups, the business owner explained that challenges of funding during the ten month sampling process were a major stumbling block to realising his dream.
“My initial idea was that I’d make 50 pairs and keep adding as the demand grew but that’s not how manufacturers work.
“They have a minimum order quantity so with our manufacturers we needed to make a minimum of 500 pairs to order.
“I had to relook our finances, multiplying the initial number I had in my head. I had to source funds through a loan, family and friends.”
The foot wear brand currently offers its unisex sneaker in two colours, light grey and sky blue.
Selekolo notes that while this has presented a limitation for the brand, this was something that his team was working on.
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His wish for the sneaker business is to continuously make a positive impact in communities through job creation and charity foundation, something which he said was paramount for him, and the reason why for every sneaker sold, R10 would go towards supporting charity.
He said the next big thing on his mind is getting the sneakers into a physical store and reaching a wider clientele.
