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9.2 Suppliers Policy Recommendations In discussing the issue of textile supplies and outsourcing to CMTs, the researcher mentioned during an interview with one nationally recognised designer, Karen (Interview, 6/7/06) that, through his research, he had identified a possible gap in the market, as an opportunity to overcome the problem of high costs for good-quality fabrics and CMT services in producing small runs. The researcher questioned whether it would be feasible for a group of designers as a consortium to set up their own CMT facility, geared specifically to their production needs, and to approach textile houses and wholesalers on a partnership basis for the supply of fabric. The designer agreed that this could be feasible and elaborated thus: I think the major textile houses should not look at designers merely as customers, but as potential business partners who could market their range of products for them. Textile houses should be courting designers - allow the popular fabrics to go to the retail chains as they can and do place large orders, which are viable business for the textile houses, but use the designers to market and grow their not-so- popular ranges. When I say “unpopular”, I mean the fabrics that you do not see in the retail chain shops. Get the local designers to make up garments from these fabrics and have them stocked in private boutiques. As for CMTs, there are so many skilled people who have lost their jobs - why can we not collaborate to start a mini-CMT factory? I know there is an issue with competition and design copying, but this is going on already. If designers collaborated, we could come to some agreement not to infringe on each other’s designs or even, for that matter, we could create unique joint fashion lines, creating a new co-operative brand label. Everyone talks about the need to create employment in this industry, everyone talks about the need for the industry to collaborate, but no one is willing to go out there and market the idea and get it into motion. You (the researcher) have very quickly seen this gap; I have to think why others who have been 110
in the industry for a long time have not seen it, or are not prepared to do something about it. 9.3 Manufacturing This study has found that there are opportunities for designers to network and establish CMTs that could meet their production needs efficiently and effectively. Furthermore, networking opportunities exist between designers and the textile industry, such that designers could create fresh fashion trends using non–commercialised fabrics. South African designers need to research global trends, such as in New York and Australia (van Acker, 2001), where designers are themselves initiating networks that relieve them of the burdens associated with outsourcing and access to marketing agents, thus freeing them to concentrate on creative ingenuity and conceptualisation of ranges. This policy recommendation was endorsed by Marianne, a well-established designer who said it was imperative for designers to study strategies adopted in other countries such as Italy, Portugal and Israel to cope with the globalised environment and the influx of imports from Asia (Interview, 27/6/06). 9.4 Government and Skills Upgrading Iqbal, (Interview, 18/7/06), listed three crucial aspects in his view for the revitalisation of the industry: the first would be to upgrade the skills of labour so that quality products could be speedily and efficiently produced; this would be dependent on industry leaders’ willingness to devote money to skills development, bearing in mind the prevailing practice of simply outsourcing the work to operations in developing countries and reserving the “finishing” of garments to their South African work-force. Despite the fact that it undermines job growth, this route still entitles local manufacturers to claim that their garments have been “made in South Africa”. The second critical intervention would be to upgrade South Africa’s textile industry with major financial investment in both skills and technology, so that a wider variety of competitively priced products could be made available; however, this would involve a longer-term vision and be contingent upon the leadership’s willingness to commit to it. The third area for intervention relates to labour regulation, and finding ways to both protect workers’ rights and support commercial imperatives, in an effort to ensure employment growth in the industry. 111
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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
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developed. Apparel operations can u
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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
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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
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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 108 and 109: divisive environment prevails in th
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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