He Built Zart From KwaMashu, Landed an Edgars Deal and Made Millions | The Founders Lab Ep3

before TikTok, before every second person had a clothing brand, there was Zart. If you grew up in Durban, you saw it everywhere: on taxis, at the rank, on the guy at school who always looked sharp. In Episode 3 of The Founders Lab, Zart founder Thabiso sits down with me and tells the full story of building one of the longest running streetwear brands in KZN, and he holds nothing back. He talks about starting in KwaMashu, the taxi sticker strategy that put Zart in front of thousands of people every day, and what it was really like to get his brand into Edgars. He goes into how much he made from that deal, why it ended, and what most people never see behind the scenes of a retail partnership. We also get into the numbers. At its peak, Zart was pulling around R600,000 a month in revenue, and over the years the brand has made millions. But Thabiso is honest about the other side too: how hard it is to build a clothing brand in South Africa, the mistakes that cost him, and what it takes to survive in this industry when most brands don’t make it past year three. If you’re building a brand, thinking about getting into retail, or just want to hear how a Durban founder built something that lasted, this one’s for you. 👇 Drop a comment: did you ever own a Zart piece? 🔔 Subscribe to Creative Labs Africa for more conversations with South African founders about how they really built their businesses. In this episode: How Zart started in KwaMashu The taxi sticker strategy that made Zart a household name Landing the Edgars deal, what it paid and why it ended Pulling R600K a month at Zart’s peak How hard it really is to build a clothing brand in South Africa Lessons for anyone starting a brand today Chapters: 00:00 Intro [add your timestamps here] #TheFoundersLab #Zart #CreativeLabsAfrica #SouthAfricanBusiness #DurbanBusiness #Streetwear #ClothingBrand #Entrepreneurship #KwaMashu #BusinessPodcast