Durban-based Touch of Soul (TOS) merchandise founder, Thabo “DJ Touch of Soul” Mnisi is the talk of the town when it comes to trendy music and apparel.

Mnisi, who also holds a Bachelor of Housing qualification at UKZN is intent on exposing his brand and turning it into a household name. Already, many of his fans flock to clubs and events where he performs in a bid to get their hands on his wide range of garments.

“The idea of selling these caps came about me trying to brand myself and creating my own logo. People who saw me wearing my caps started asking for them, and in order for me to cut the financial loss of giving it to them for free, I then decided that I should sell them, which in turn saw the demand accelerate,” Mnisi said.

Although the retail of his merchandise only started late last year, the rapid growth in clientele has seen him reach his short-term target in no time. TOS is arguably one of the fastest growing clothing lines in Durban and Mnisi says that this growth is largely owed to social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook which he used to market this brand.

Another reason the clothing label has gained popularity is the fact that it is also endorsed by local celebrities. The likes of Thapelo Mokoena, Itumeleng Khune, AKA and Kwesta have been spotted wearing the TOS attire.

“I align myself with influential people and most of the time, TOS caps are won by celebrities. People who like Kwesta, will definitely want to wear what he wears,” he said.

The Swaziland born DJ and fashionista further mentioned that he is looking into branching the TOS merchandise stores to the rest of the country. He wants to make sure that the brand lives in other provinces too, as he currently only has a store in Durban.

“I want to see the brand TOS grow to a level where we have a factory that manufactures our branded merchandise and bigger stores (a size of Woolworths, Mr. Price) with all range of products,” said Mnisi.

When we asked him about his views and feelings on his apparel being bootlegged, he said: “The merchandise TOS belongs to me. If people try to fake my brand, still they are promoting me as DJ Touch of Soul”.

Not only is his business a success, his music career has also gained excessive growth as the young DJ is also the brand ambassador for Vodacom’s  #NXTLVL. “Now that I have been made a Vodacom ambassador, I plan on empowering the youth. I am going to get to know what their dreams are and show them that it is possible,” he added.

Mnisi also highlighted that an achievement he will never forget, because it launched his career, was walking away victorious in the Red Bull Campus Clash DJ competition in 2015.

Touch of Soul is a resident DJ at Azar and Eyadini. His store is located at Durban West Street 320, 3rd Floor, office 31A. Follow him on Twitter and on Instagram. He is DJ Touch of Soul on Facebook and his business account is TOSmerch on Instagram.

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@tosmerch Woman Crush.. The Fitness Bunny @sbahle_mpisane# ???? ?? Thank you for making the brand part of your lifestyle ?? #TOSmerch

A post shared by Thabo Mnisi Touchofsoul (@djtouchofsoul) on May 3, 2017 at 12:20am PDT