Khanda Manqele and Wandile Mshengu created Sophisticated Monkey Brand (SMB) in 2010 as a "born-free" lifestyle brand focused on bringing together fashion, photography, music and other creative ventures."We founded the brand as a movement which was out to challenge conventional street culture as it is known, and to show the youth of South Africa how two young guys from Durban understand and interpret the culture from a Durban perspective."Mshengu was a design student at the time. ''We just started printing my designs from design school onto good quality T-shirts and promoted them at jam-packed raw house parties in our neighbourhood," he says."Another way we expressed ourselves was through our Tumblr blog, Basement Word. We started it to show the rest of the world what the youth of Durban were up to and, at the same time, market our clothes. Tumblr inspired the way we dressed and as soon as people saw us at events they wanted our garments and style for themselves."The duo teamed up with additional co-operative members Vukile Madlala, Phumulani Xhakaza, Lwazi Stofela and Smiso Ngwenya.The SMB team have diverse talents - Madlala is the marketing guy; Xhakaza a musician; Stofela a photographer and Ngwenya a stylist and ''cool hunter"."Our first project was a fashion range which came to be named #BAP$. #BAP$ is a representation of the new generation of youth in Durban and South Africa. It's a means for them to express themselves the way they want to without being imprisoned by conformity or sticking to any norms," says Mshengu.The #BAP$ clothing label is characterised by bold, pop-style prints that re-imagine South African urban and township classics for post-1994 youths.Their best-seller is the #BAP$ bucket hat, and their designs have been worn by celebrities like Nomzamo Mbatha, WTF, Scoop Makhathini, Maps Maponyane, Big NUZ, DreamTeam and Riky Rick."We've sold hundreds of units of the bucket hat alone. After the success of our #BAP$ beanie we ventured into the bucket hat industry because we felt the local market had forgotten about our bucket-hat roots as South Africans."They are currently trying to excite the fashion conscious with dungarees. The bucket hats debuted at R150 but due to demand, sourcing of better materials and styles they're now R250."As a brand we don't believe in making clients pay for the shortcomings of the retailer," Mshengu adds. "We dedicate most off our time to finding materials at their source so that they're cheaper."Most of their clientele are students, from high schools to varsity.The SMB team's designs are available via mail order on smbdbn@gmail.com. They also have a flagship store at Durban's 8 Morrison Street, and conduct pop stores which are announced through their social media channels - @SMB_DBN on Twitter and SMB_DBN on Instagram...