With deep roots in the township of Phiri in Soweto, South Africa, Sbhiva is a vintage clothing lifestyle brand. The VW Beetle in the brand’s logo speaks to authenticity and reflects the deep and intensely personal appreciation Sbhiva founder, Sihle Dube, has for his graphic designer, entrepreneur, and creative director elder brother, Nhlanhla Wayne Dube’s passion for the Beetle.
You see, Sihle’s elder brother had the iconic VW Beetle as his first car. The Beetle was what Sihle’s elder brother could afford at that time, but he also loved the car’s timelessness and classic qualities. This passion for the vintage and timelessly stylish rubbed on to Sihle. His interest and love were intensified when Sihle saw many people stop his elder brother on the road to admire the stylishly mellow yellow Beetle - with some offering to buy it off him.
Sbhiva is township slang for the Beetle. It is a name that blends township swag with the Beetle’s timeless ingenuity, perfectly capturing the vintage and iconic spirit of the Beetle. It’s no surprise that when Sihle started designing and producing caps and T-shirts he named the line Sbhiva. From an initial and modest production of 5 caps — and with friends, family, and close connections as the first customers — Sihle quickly escalated the production to 1000 units.
The Sbhiva brand not only taps into the rich potential presented by the sizable township VW Beetle cult following but is also positioned to fill the gap represented by the shortage of local iconically stylish brands.
We aim to deliver products that display the attributes of high-end qualities and elegant fashion while cultivating brand loyalty, turning customers into avid fans. To that end, we aim to tap into patriotism as a reminder that “local is lekker” and “glocal is even more lekker” (“glocal” refers to how Sbhiva blends the global roots of the Beetle with local style) can match the superior quality of popular brands. Although our brands are of exceptional quality, they are affordable to the average South African. They are also accessible and available on mainstream social media. We courier our products nationwide and have had a great reception throughout the country.
Currently, the company is firmly entrenched in Johannesburg and we are busy gathering market intelligence that will hopefully allow us to spread our wings further across the country.
Fabric choice and texture are what sets us apart from other brands. We've introduced a mini-me concept in our newly released LUX Tracksuit, this season the Sbhiva 17 Basketball ensemble and the SP Design Striped T-shirt in our range to tap into the kiddie’s market.
Our aim is to turn Sbhiva into a household brand as iconic as the Beetle by offering customers high-quality vintage clothing items at an affordable price.
