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divisive environment prevails in the contest for control of South Africa’s fashion designers and the industry that revolves around them, these event-owners should take at least some responsibility for the decimation of a still nascent South African design industry. Within the clothing design sector, there is acknowledgement that finding mechanisms to address the various challenges facing the broader industry is imperative. Yet, while energy and resources are misdirected towards gate-keeping and shifting of responsibility, no-one with influence in the industry has developed or opened up for consultation any strategy proposals for integration of the key role-players and areas of endeavour for sustainable growth. The intention to establish a Fashion Council through the Cape Clothing Cluster to represent the fashion sector as a whole and to guide policy development and implementation is promising, but mobilisation towards the set-up of such a Council must be effected transparently and thoroughly. Government representation in its membership should be complemented with that of organised labour; a national survey or other means of broad consultation would be critical to its authenticity, as would ensuring that independent designers have a voice in its deliberations. Similarly, the creation of fashion clusters or hubs in different cities - and within different parts of the same city – could advance and accelerate the progress of the clothing and textile sectors, and indeed, of many other industries servicing them, whether these be based in and derived from the formal or the informal economy. However, in the early stages of this concept being applied, competition for limited resources in the form of sponsorship, funding and markets could be increased. This would necessitate the various clusters collaborating, networking and using economies of scale to influence buyers, suppliers and the consumer market. Otherwise, following the regrettable example set by the owners of South Africa’s Fashion Week events, they could end up tussling amongst and against each other for these resources, while the designers, who constitute the kernel of the present and future industry, suffer the consequences, and a potentially flourishing industry could be turned “inside-out”. It is this disturbing prospect that inspires the designers interviewed for this study with a vision for their industry that involves turning the idea of “inside out” into a strategic foothold for evolution, i.e. working proactively from within the industry to face down external threats to the survival of their own businesses and the clothing and textile industry as a whole. 108
For example, some of the study participants believe strongly that designers should not become complacent by relying on the State or industry role-players to support growth, but that they should rather take charge of forward progress, by pooling resources and harnessing the advantages of partnerships, supported by the assistance of business and marketing experts. It is important for designers to create these partnerships so systems can be put in place to meet the demands of an agile supply chain that can produce garments quickly and efficiently without diluting the quality or their designs. 109
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Declaration This study represents t
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Abstract A fundamental change in th
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8.10 Comments on the Clothing Indus
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CHAPTER ONE Introduction A Sicilian
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esearch on the global clothing and
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2.2 The Global Industry - post-2005
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they are starting to go back home,
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Fashion is acknowledged as a vital
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fashion designers cope with these u
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natural fibres: wool and cotton; ot
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By the 1950s, Durban was the specia
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Lu Jean Clothing, closed its operat
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Due to South Africa being a middle-
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pivotal role in sustaining and deve
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This table shows that there are far
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Late in 2004, SACTWU reported that
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Basic Conditions of Employment Act
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environments, the erratic payment o
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A feature that is advantageous to C
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(Mokopanele, 2006). Deputy Minister
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Figure Three Profits before tax R m
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Further import figures collaborate
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share the space, none showed any in
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CHAPTER FIVE The South African Fash
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eiterated the need for local manufa
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women owners of the South African l
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5.4 China’s entry into high-end f
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6.1 Introducing the Value Chain CHA
Page 58 and 59: developed. Apparel operations can u
Page 60 and 61: “ripple effects back into manufac
Page 62 and 63: Rogerson endorses this view thus: T
Page 64 and 65: in their designs. Embellishment als
Page 66 and 67: een very little formal research on
Page 68 and 69: The owner of a new retail outlet in
Page 70 and 71: critical resource for profiling Dur
Page 72 and 73: 8.1 Introducing the Designers CHAPT
Page 74 and 75: In addition, they have not embraced
Page 76 and 77: from international magazines and ev
Page 78 and 79: Peter Bosman (Interview: 3/7/06) Bo
Page 80 and 81: Another critical success factor is
Page 82 and 83: with fabric, and colour co-ordinati
Page 84 and 85: dictated by the buyers. This behavi
Page 86 and 87: to protect their own business inter
Page 88 and 89: clothing designs, and questions how
Page 90 and 91: manufactured off-shore and resellin
Page 92 and 93: Iqbal (Interview, 18/7/06) was outr
Page 94 and 95: These events run concurrently betwe
Page 96 and 97: support from buyers for retail outl
Page 98 and 99: formulate collective approaches to
Page 100 and 101: can advertise their latest designs
Page 102 and 103: due to their ability to manufacture
Page 104 and 105: and textile suppliers need to focus
Page 106 and 107: With regard to suppliers and the ma
Page 110 and 111: 9.2 Suppliers Policy Recommendation
Page 112 and 113: 9.5 Cluster Initiatives The cluster
Page 114 and 115: would also create business opportun
Page 116 and 117: shackled to either the large retail
Page 118 and 119: Appendix One Letter by the research
Page 120 and 121: endorsement by economic giants such
Page 122 and 123: Primary Interviews with Designers S
Page 124 and 125: "There should also be more engageme
Page 126 and 127: References Ascol, Nina. 2004. The G
Page 128 and 129: Fakude, Gordon. 2000. ‘Informalis
Page 130 and 131: Naidu, Sanusha. 2005. ‘South Afri
Page 132 and 133: Vlok, Etienne. 2006. ‘The Textile
Page 134 and 135: Robbins, Tom. 2006. ‘SA fashion d
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