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"There should also be more engagement between textile and clothing manufacturers and designers," he said. "Municipalities should start promoting local designers throughout the year and the various fashion shows should focus a lot more on the business side." Igsaan Salie, the president of the Textile Federation of SA (Texfed), said the department of trade and industry (DTI) customised sector programme document would be able to play a role in aligning the value chain. "Designers have to be able to look each other in the eye and find common ground. A conference may help and Texfed would support any strategy that would bring strength to the sector," Salie said. Gavin Rajah, the founder of the Cape Town fashion week, said the problem in the industry was that too many egos and politics got in the way of business. "People have their personal motives at heart and no one is really interested in gaining cohesiveness," he said. "Everyone is very quick to complain about China, but if we had a proper strategy that focused on turnaround times, maybe we would not have felt the brunt of their imports so much." Stuart Gottschalk, the vice-chairman of Clotex, a non-governmental organisation that helps small clothing and textile businesses in the Western Cape, said the provincial government made a breakthrough by starting a fashion council that was trying to unify designers. "The industry has changed and the future lies with smaller, vibrant companies run by young people." Gottschalk said fashion weeks were targeted at local buyers but that one of the solutions was to run one that would target overseas buyers. One of the subjects that would need to be tackled, though, was the issue of bridging finance. Stefanie Vieira, the acting manager of the Cape Town Fashion Council and assistant director of the clothing and textile sector of the Western Cape provincial government, said the council project had been started at the end of last year. She said it was an initiative of designers and Wesgro - the trade and investment promotion agency for the Western Cape - to address the frustration caused by fragmentation in the industry. "It is amazing that the South African government invests in the development of [small businesses] but we can't expect them to be experts in every single sector. At some stage, the dti needs a unified 124
voice or advisory body which represents the industry they are supporting to maximise the outcome of their investment," she said. Vieira said a panel was needed to advise the dti on what kind of trade fairs to hold and what kind of indicators designers should meet before representing South Africa abroad. The council comprises five designers, seven industry players, one manufacturer, a representative of Clotex, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, a retailer, the editor of Elle magazine, a provincial government representative and a representative from Wesgro. The council is promoting joint ventures between designers and manufacturers who undertake the business side of the deal. Networking opportunities are provided and Vieira said the council would be very interested in bringing business people and designers together to form partnerships. If the councils work as they are intended to, representatives from each of the councils of the provinces will hold discussions and take decisions together at a national level. The fashion council's aim is to assist other regions to establish their own forums and networks. "We are happy to share our first experience, structures and projects with them," Vieira said. "It is crucial that South Africa gets a national body to fight against fragmentation and to be able to represent a unified industry to the rest of the world. "Fashion design can be seen as the creative component in the whole clothing and textile value chain. South Africa cannot compete with price points from 'sweat-shop economies'," Vieira said. "By focusing only on domestic markets, it will capture a decreasing share of the market because of free-trade agreements. South Africa's strength lies in creativity and we should make use of it and invest in it." Vieira concluded: "One other key for success is the understanding of market requirements and the professional promotion of local design. Next to Italy, Brazil and France, South Africa has the best potential to create its own look in the global industry." Neither Sactwu nor the Clothing Trade Council of SA could be contacted for comment. 125
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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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“ripple effects back into manufac
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Rogerson endorses this view thus: T
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in their designs. Embellishment als
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een very little formal research on
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The owner of a new retail outlet in
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critical resource for profiling Dur
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8.1 Introducing the Designers CHAPT
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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
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Page 84 and 85: dictated by the buyers. This behavi
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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
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Page 106 and 107: With regard to suppliers and the ma
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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 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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