On Foot: Walk a kilometre in the socks of youth

Earlier this year Simangele Shabala, Lucky Nkabinde, Obakeng Molepe, Sithembiso Shoba and Tebogo Lebotse from Umuzi Photo Club arrived at the Ogilvy studio in Johannesburg with lots of talent and big dreams.

Their brief was to come up with an idea for an exhibition that explores youth culture in South Africa.

Over a few months their project transformed from a once-off exhibition piece into a business idea as they decided to translate their photos into graphic designs for a range of socks.

"The Seeks Sock Co is a sock company with a difference. It's about creating socks that don't just make a fashion statement, they make a statement about who we really are," say the team of young photographers.

"The creative thought behind the project is that people generally have a very negative perception about South African youth. We want to challenge that perception by asking people to, quite literally, put themselves in our socks."

Each pair of socks in the Seeks Sock range is based on a photograph taken by the students that is linked to a personal story.

But making socks isn't cheap. "For a small, initial run of five different designs using a local manufacturer, we're looking at a cost of about R40000," they say. To try to raise this money, they have launched the "Seeks Socks campaign" on the world's largest crowd-sourced funding site, Indiegogo.

"This idea might not change the world, but it will change a small part of it - the part that we live in," they say. "And right now, it ain't the greatest part. It's a place where people - our neighbours, some of our families - treat us like pariahs because we go to school and hope that one day we will make a little more of our lives than they have."

• Go to www.indiegogo.com and search for The Seeks Sock Co. Their exhibition is on tonight at Bjala Square, 23 Madison Avenue, Jeppestown, and is hosted by Umuzi Photo Club. Shutte runs the blog Handsome Things, http://handsomethings.com