Potent: Thatiso Dube holding his awards for Medium Business Entrepreneur of the Year and the coveted Job Creator of the Year. Photo: Supplied
Seventeen years ago, Thatiso Dube was a high school student in Pretoria printing T-shirts for his friends. What began as a simple hustle — “just a way to make extra pocket money at school,” he recalls — has evolved into one of South Africa’s most successful streetwear empires. Today, the 35-year-old founder and creative director of Galxboy employs 220 people, most of them under 35, and his brand is preparing to open its 16th store, this time in Kimberley, giving Galxboy a presence in every province in the country.
It’s the kind of full-circle moment Dube could not have imagined when he was a teenager selling shirts from his backpack. “Basically, in 2008 I was just making T-shirts for me and my friends, and then the rest of the school wanted them,” he says. “But I didn’t see it as a business. It was just a way to make extra pocket money.”
That changed when he encountered another young streetwear label that was taking the country by storm. “When I discovered Amakipkip was a popular brand at that time, that’s when I realised I can also do it,” he explains. “I only thought that white people could have clothing brands. So as soon as I saw someone the same colour as me doing it, I started taking it seriously.”
What followed was a long, uneven journey of learning, resilience and reinvention.
By 2014, Dube had opened his first Galxboy store, a significant leap from the car boot sales and online hustle that had defined his early years. The store thrived for three years, but by 2017 it had closed. “We knew how to make the clothes, we knew how to sell and market them,” he says, “but we lacked very much in the business side of things. We got stock late, we didn’t get the right sizes; all those types of problems. Eventually it led to the store closing.”
For many, that would have been the end of the story. For Dube, it was an education. “Once it closed down, I went underground for about three years,” he says. “I was looking at our mistakes, restructuring the brand, and taking online business management courses. I just started rebuilding silently.”
By 2020, Galxboy resurfaced. What began as a few T-shirts sold through a new website quickly expanded into a full-scale revival. “We started again from the bottom,” he says. “We introduced sunglasses, then handbags, and by 2021 we opened another small store. From there the brand started growing again.”
That growth has been meteoric. Today, Galxboy operates 15 stores across South Africa, with its 16th opening in Kimberley on Friday, 7 November. The brand has also built a robust e-commerce platform and a loyal following across the continent. In May this year, Galxboy opened a sleek flagship store in Sandton, a far cry from its grassroots beginnings.
“Opening in the financial capital of South Africa is huge for the brand and our journey,” Dube said at the time. “We’re not just opening another store in another mall. We are creating a cultural destination, a space where fashion, identity and ambition collide.”
That spirit of ambition, and the jobs it has created, earned Dube two of the country’s top entrepreneurial honours at the 37th annual Business Partners Limited Entrepreneur of the Year® awards: Medium Business Entrepreneur of the Year and the coveted Job Creator of the Year.
“For us it means people are actually starting to see our hard work,” he says. “We do make sales and money, but being recognised for such awards is a big milestone. Being job creators; that’s what we actually do this for, to employ the youth. South Africa has a big unemployment problem, so our contribution being recognised means a lot.”
Dube’s participation in the competition proved more than symbolic. “They asked a lot of questions,” he laughs. “It showed us that as a business, we need to be more prepared — compliant with accounting, tax, business processes — so we can be a company that’s responsible and up to date. It was a learning curve for us, but also an opportunity to fix our issues and grow.”
That appetite for learning has become one of Dube’s defining traits. His mantra, like that of the brand itself, is simple but potent: Smart. African. Ambitious.
“For me, it talks about the youth,” he explains. “We are all smart, we are all ambitious, and we are African. We have a lot of potential, and we must just grab it with both hands because the world is watching us. We need to stop only consuming from the world and start contributing too.”
Galxboy’s design philosophy reflects that ethos. Blending global streetwear aesthetics with distinctly South African cultural cues, the brand’s appeal lies in its authenticity. Dube says the creative process begins with community.
“In the beginning we used to do events, basically building our community and getting our numbers strong,” he says. “We stay in the streets, always speaking to young people. Most of my friends are younger than me, so that’s how we get information on what’s trending. Then we design based on that. The biggest thing is research — staying online, travelling if you can — all those things help us stay relevant.”
He insists on working with local designers, keeping the brand rooted in homegrown creativity. “All the designers we work with are local,” he says. “We have a lot of talent here.”
The local streetwear scene has evolved dramatically since Galxboy’s early days. “There are a lot of brands in South Africa,” Dube says. “I’m close with many of the guys, we exchange advice and help each other. For us to get to this point pushes others to do the same. The biggest thing is building structure — making sure your human resources are right, your team loves what they’re doing. It starts with design, but to scale up, you need marketing, finance, HR. We’ve done that well, and that’s what I want to teach others.”
That collaborative approach extends beyond his own success. “The pie is big enough for everyone,” he says. “We need to work together to push out all these international brands and have only South African brands eating the pie. That’s the mission.”
International expansion, however, is already underway. Earlier this year, Galxboy launched a global online store that ships worldwide. “We’ve had over 200 orders from places like Tokyo, the UK, the UAE, and the United States,” Dube says. “We’re collecting data from each country, and as orders grow, we’ll research possible physical stores or pop-ups. We’ve started the journey of going global; we’ll just take it step by step.”
He plans to participate in major streetwear exhibitions abroad from 2026 to expose the brand to new markets.
For now, Dube’s focus remains on sustainable growth, even if manufacturing locally remains a challenge. “Currently, we manufacture in China,” he explains. “We’re competing with big local and international brands in South Africa, so to meet demand — about 40,000 T-shirts a day — we have to export production. No one can do that capacity here yet. But all the designing, marketing, and photography are done here, and all our employees are based in South Africa.”
That grounding in local talent and culture has kept Galxboy connected to its roots, even as its reach expands. “Galxboy has always stood for owning your truth,” Dube says. “It’s about being smart, African and ambitious — and showing that our ideas, our creativity, are just as valuable as anyone’s.”
He often returns to the idea of starting young — a lesson drawn from his own story. “My advice to upcoming entrepreneurs is to start as soon as you can,” he says. “While you’re young, when you don’t have bills and responsibilities. Make all the mistakes you can so you learn from them quickly. Don’t be afraid to put your idea out there, even if it’s not perfect. You’ll correct it while it’s out there instead of waiting in your bedroom where no one can see it. The more you cook, the more you eat. Be consistent, have faith in your brand, and something will happen.”
For a man who has rebuilt his business from the ground up, those words carry weight. Galxboy’s story, from a high-school side hustle to a national brand employing hundreds, is a case study in perseverance, vision and the quiet power of self-belief.