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clothing designs, and questions how one would validate that these designs had been<br />
made in South Africa. Her view is that the value chain should be tracked to endorse that<br />
the clothing industry is indeed supporting the informal economy through employment<br />
creation, and that the “African” beadwork or artwork embedded in the clothing is truly<br />
African, and not manufactured by Chinese or Indian operators: “I have seen a shed [in<br />
China] <strong>full</strong> of Chinese women producing ‘Ndebele’ beadwork.”<br />
The issue of transparency is complex, and something of a “double-edged sword”.<br />
Transparency - especially where traditional craft is added to embellish clothing as an<br />
indicator of authenticity - can also unwittingly give away valuable information to<br />
competitors. The challenge for designers and other clothing industry players is in operating<br />
the value chain with transparency but without relaying compromising information such as<br />
suppliers’ details, production methods and the like to their competition.<br />
One designer, Karen, collaborates with a Durban-based HIV/AIDS organisation called<br />
Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust, whose artisans create various forms of beadwork that<br />
complement her designs, and in turn, raise funds for HIV/AIDS care within KwaZulu-Natal.<br />
Being socially conscious, Karen states in her marketing profile that the beadwork attached<br />
to her line of clothing is made by women belonging to this self-help organisation. Her view<br />
is that there are many opportunities like this to network with organisations or co-ops in the<br />
informal economy, and that that she wished designers and private boutiques would<br />
expand their horizons to incorporate this wealth of cultural imagination and talent, to<br />
enhance South African clothing designs.<br />
8.8 Experiences and <strong>View</strong>s on Competition<br />
All respondents felt that competition, in one way or another, has increased due to<br />
changes in South Africa’s trade policies. Some of the designers have experienced direct<br />
competition, mainly from China, while others have experienced a marked dwindling in<br />
their market, due to the influx of cheaper apparel. However, as one respondent from the<br />
Cape Town Fashion Council stated (Interview, 25/6/06):<br />
It is important for the industry to get over the issue of China … they are<br />
here to stay, they will remain here and their presence will grow. The<br />
industry needs to find alternative measures to compete … the<br />
problem is, if it were not China, it will be India or some other country …<br />
when all the quotas come to an end, there will be no one to blame<br />
but ourselves.<br />
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