Front row with the Friendly Hiking Club

Photography by @insta_calvin

Front row with the Friendly Hiking Club

My next guest for the FRM Blog is a creative collective which is at the apex of Joburg's thriving youth arts & culture scene. 'Friendly' is a design company and programming collective taking consideration of ethical consumerism in clothing & community – whilst sharing inspiration through products paying respect to past, present and future art culture transitions in Africa.

And now they've returned with their latest offering – under their sub-brand 'Friendly Hiking Club'. To better understand their roots, I found this quote to be a poignant statement explaining Friendly Hiking Club's mission:

"Friendly Hiking Club is interrogating ways to a better health & well-being through trail experiences inspired by one of our ethos: Bringing the Youth Together"

This merchandise drop is the collectives latest work in 2022 and continues to promote and advocate Friendly Hiking Club's message of bringing the youth together & exploring new ways of engaging with each other, and the world, beyond social media streams and search optimised results. The concept behind the merch was derived from 'Little Foot' which dates back to the revelation of South Africa’s Sterkfontein caves discovery of prehistoric human species which trailed the West Rand caves.

Photography by @insta_calvin

The creative collective explains that they find 'Little Foot' relevant as the first Friendly Hiking Club icon and resonate with how it represents the close relationship of humankind and nature. This is a curiosity driven collectors-item design inspired by some of their childhood school trips to the Cradle of a Humankind, where they could trace a lot about our history as species, the concept of human agenda, understanding of evolution and making ethical decisions that consider the environment.

Photography by @insta_calvin

And when creating, Friendly Hiking Club believe that it is vital to be inclusive to the rights of non-human animals in our ethical & moral values. Even though Little Foot influenced the feminine colour-way on the Friendly Hiking Club t-shirts, this collection is not necessarily about the Cradle of Humankind but rather kindness for nature – and that can only be known through intertwining with nature itself.

"We know there’s no Wi-Fi in the forest but there’s better connections, thus we’ve opted for nature-driven activity that has been well received by modern youth culture. We suspect this will contribute in carrying the curiosity for nature & the outdoors, which promotes calmness, joy and creativity. We will be using this opportunity to discuss mental health-related issues that can be controlled through diet and lifestyle changes."

Photography by @insta_calvin

So as much as Friendly Hiking Club are still learning more about their vision, they're always looking forward to opportunities allowing growth and maturity as entry-level art community individuals. They're sharing growth & creativity within this circle and would like to grow with other people too – their mission is to see something network-based transpire and become a tool which impacts artists lives and assist them to help the world.

The Friendly Hiking Club tees are available for purchase through their Instagram page – DM to purchase.

Photography by @insta_calvin