After asserting itself as one of the most promising local clothing brands, ‘Local is Lekker’ is looking to expand its brand to reach a wider market by exporting to neighbouring countries.

Established in 2014 by two young entrepreneurs, Thabiso Robert and Kabelo Babotseng, the brand has gradually grown into a formidable force and is now ready to stake its claim in the local fashion industry.

Robert and Babotseng say they started the clothing brand after finding a niche in the manufacturing sector.

Despite the two co-founders recently going their separate ways, Robert says the brand has already started exporting to other Southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa.

“We have clients across borders. The brand has grown over the past few years. We have even inspired one of our customers in Zimbabwe who has since established his own clothing brand,” Robert said. Robert told Arts & Culture that they aim to penetrate the clothing business by leveraging on a variety of products they have unlike their competitors who only focus on specific merchandise. The brand has clothes for both men and women including t-shirts, football kits, shoes and many other items.

“We have penetrated the local market and now our goal is to become one of the biggest brands in the continent. I believe with hard work, it is possible,” he said.

Furthermore, Robert said they are looking to challenge other big brands for supremacy in the clothing industry. He stated that they are still making plans to move away from just making clothes and rather seek to penetrate the retail market by having their products in the shops.

“Our clothes are cheaper compared to those already on the market and are savvy so they are up to the times.

I wanted to grow the brand and even have plans to own a brand store in the near future, which will specialise in selling our merchandise. I’m proud to say we have inspired the birth of many other brands locally such as Khayalame, Swaggar Legend, Coolkids and Excellence,” Robert said.

He stated that the market has responded very well to their brand with the demand especially from females very high. Robert expressed gratitude towards their clients noting that the demand is so high that sometimes they are overwhelmed by orders.

“Women tend to like our fashion lines more. We get more orders from them than their male counterparts. We were derailed by COVID-19 in the past three years, but the business has peaked again,” he added.

On other matters, Robert said the use of social media has assisted the brand to reach a wider market, with most referrals made through the platform. He said they have engaged a few models to advertise their products.

He said in their pursuit to improve on the turn around, they have started to do most things in-house than outsourcing.