Since then, the brand / family / empire has amassed a connectivity throughout South Africa that is reminiscent of the kind of old-school stories we know about Shaun Stüssy selling t-shirts out the back of his car; the murmurings of a dream, made real – the kind of legends and lore that drive young people to believe in what they are doing. If you speak to anyone in who has had the pleasure of connecting with Broke’s founding father, Andile Dlamini, you’ll know that clothing (whether thrifted or designed) has been his love language in building his family; the crew allegedly is home to between 20 – 30 core members, and that’s not including the many people across South Africa that make up the whole collective, as one can check here @wear_broke.

To know Broke is to know the critical element that thrifting has been in the formation of this vision. Thrifting for Andile was a practice that evolved naturally, an earlier manifestation of his ability to enhance any opportunity he has in front of him, and on this he says, “Grand Parade’s Saturday market is the beginning for Broke, I think. I had been thrifting at Lower Main in Obs, but it was so expensive – like R350.00 or R400.00 for something I realized I could get straight from the source. My first big purchase was 20 jackets, and I sold them to my friends – and thankfully they were all into it. It was 2015, and we were rocking those colourful 80s windbreakers, and we stood out. The scene was quite reserved and minimal at that time, and were there in these fits that cost us like R50.00 to put together.” This divergence from coveting high price tags – as most people in fashion still buy into – also informed the name, Broke; “I was staying in Kuils River, and the homies and I would travel by train constantly to town. That’s where everything was – we were all living like 45 minutes or an hour away from the central point of where we wanted to be – and we realised we can’t just move around like no-one, we needed a name for our gang; to cement our purpose for showing up. What better describes us than Broke Boys? Our whole lifestyle was about spending the least amount of money – from the cheapest train tickets, to R1.00 shots at Bob’s in Long Street, to our fits.’
Andile has no formal design training, but his eye for silhouettes started simply – a great testament to anyone who is looking to build a brand; to start with the foundation, refine it and above all; make it personal. “I bought some plains from Mr Price, and took inspiration from the show The Amazing World of Gumball – and put “The Amazing World of Broke Boys.” We were proud to declare that we are making the most of what we have – the least money, maybe we come from hard places – but we are about to turn what we have been dealt into something bigger than us.”



Broke boys photographed:
Andile Dlamini
Sindiso Tshuma
Mzwandile Sithole
Akhona Beja
Shout out to the rest of the Broke gang: Simbongile Bino, Siyabonga Cole Lukhele, Sibulele Ganca, Onke Mphokeli, Mphendulo Sibiya, Mangaliso Mdingi, Sinethemba Magama, Sibusiso Tyibilika, Athenkosi Rato Vundisa and anyone and everyone that has contributed to their journey thus far.

