Probably the biggest T-shirt fad to ever hit the South African scene. It had many Mzansi citizens dressed in a uniform of shirts, and no one seemed to mind being seen wearing the same shirt as everyone else. If anything being seen wearing an Amakipkip shirt was the in thing.
Then they went national. They made a big move by sponsoring the top South African hip hop rapper and dance crew, Da L.E.S and Repertoire dance crew. This did wonders for them as the brand started being worn by amaPantsula, abomrappa and even ama boujwa. Nigerians even sported the look like it was the next generation of cocaine or something. When fake Amakipkip shirts broke in, they knew they had made it. And that's when they reached stardom and I started thinking, what's next? What other ground breaking new design or accessory will they add to their success. Sadly that was their peak.
Amakipkip was quiet for the next 6 - 10 months after that. I noticed cause I unconsciously analyse trends and that one had paused. That long pause was their moment of star DOM, they were losing whatever advantage they had. NOW we see more fake shirts than we do the real thing, and their new "design" with the African sign on it is not really creative as we may have thought they'd do. Now Da L.E.S has moved on to a DC clothing sponsor and Siyabonga and partners have probably spent all the money they made off the venture. Till the next one I guess.
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| They went down just like their sign suggests |
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