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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.
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