From Soweto to Sandton: Sometimes You Have to See the Ambition Become Real
There are things you say when you are building a business that can sound ambitious at the time.You talk about growth. You talk about expanding into new markets. You talk about taking something built in the township and putting it in spaces where people may not expect to find it. Then one day, you actually do it. For SQUAD, one of those moments has arrived.
SQUAD footwear is now available at AfricaRise in Melrose Arch.
For me, this is bigger than simply having our shoes in another retail location. It represents an ambition we have carried from the beginning: to build something in Soweto that can travel beyond Soweto.
Soweto Was Never the Limitation
SQUAD’s story is deeply connected to Soweto. The community that backed the idea, the people who pooled their resources, the skills behind the business and much of the culture that influences what we build come from here. Our presence on Vilakazi Street remains important to us. But being proudly from Soweto should never mean believing that Soweto is the only place where our products belong. The ambition has always been bigger. We want someone walking through Soweto to encounter SQUAD. We also want someone shopping in Sandton to encounter SQUAD. Eventually, we want someone walking through another African city — and ultimately another part of the world — to encounter SQUAD. The destination changes. The origin does not.
From Talking About It to Doing It
Entrepreneurship teaches you that there is a huge difference between ambition and execution. Anyone can say, “One day we want to be in Sandton.” Getting there requires a product that can compete, customers who believe in it, people willing to fund the journey, a team willing to do the work and partners willing to open doors.
Our partnership with AfricaRise gives SQUAD an opportunity to enter a retail environment dedicated to showcasing African designers and connecting them with a broader market. AfricaRise describes its mission as giving African fashion entrepreneurs greater reach, including through its physical retail presence. (AfricaRise Online)
And Melrose Arch represents exactly the kind of market we have always believed locally built brands should be able to participate in — a major Johannesburg lifestyle and retail destination positioned between Sandton and Rosebank. (Sunday Times)
We are not entering these spaces asking people to support SQUAD simply because it is a South African brand.
The product must deserve to be there.
That has always been important to me.
We Are Not Leaving Soweto
Going from Soweto to Sandton does not mean leaving Soweto behind. It means expanding the map. Our ambition is not to escape the township. It is to demonstrate what can be built from it. SQUAD itself was created through an unconventional model: young people pooling resources and using community capital to build a footwear business. That philosophy remains central to the brand. (wearesquad.co.za) Every new market we enter becomes another opportunity to prove what can happen when people stop waiting for perfect conditions and start building with what they have.
Today it is Soweto to Melrose Arch. Tomorrow, the map gets bigger. The important thing is that wherever SQUAD goes, we remember where the journey started.
Built in Soweto. Ready for everywhere.
WE ARE SQUAD.
