The ReDress Report - August 2007

The ReDress Report – August 07

Evaluation of the 2007 MTN Durban Fashion Week

An evaluation study by Renato Palmi of the research house ReDress© on the 2007 MTN Durban Fashion Week that took place over four days in June indicated that the entire fashion week was extremely successful.

The evaluation of the MTN Durban Fashion Week (MTNDFW) was conducted by interviewing fashion designers that participated in the MTNDFW.

Eighty-two percent of the respondents said that the venue was extremely pleasing and conducive to portraying the uniqueness of Durban. Even though public attendance was good, 41% of the respondents said that they still felt that South African consumers saw fashion weeks as a form of entertainment and not as an important economic sector that contributes to employment and development in South Africa.

An extremely pleasing outcome is the 88% who said that they had noticed a vast improvement in the quality and standard of the garments shown on the catwalk and felt that through the mechanism of the Durban Fashion Week, designers are making great strides in improving the quality of their brands.

Eighty-two percent of the respondents said there was no doubt that the Durban Fashion Week has added value to the entire South African clothing and fashion sector and 100% said that they supported the growth of fashion weeks in South Africa, on condition that the fashion events are managed and marketed correctly.

A further proviso the respondents said relating to fashion weeks is that these events need and must focus on the business of fashion. Most of the designers said that they had during the course of the MTNDFW received some form of media coverage in print, radio and TV. A total of 65% of the respondents said that their participation in the fashion week had resulted in establishing new prospective business opportunities, while 100% said that participationin the 2007 MTNDFW had provided them with an ideal platform to market their brand label. Extrapolation of the responses indicates that the MTNDFW has firmly established itself on the local and global fashion calendar as a serious facilitator in the development of fashion in South Africa.


The South African Quota Restrictions on Chinese clothing and textile Imports: A Synopsis


The intent to implement the quota restrictions by the South African government to assist and promote the local apparel industries is commendable but the actual implementation process was overshadowed by political maneuvering. The Chinese government after initially declining the South African government's suggestions of restricting imports eventually relented because they knew the returns from alternative economic sectors would far exceed the revenue lost from the import restrictions. After all, the quotas are only for two years. The South African government rushed to implement the quotas to appease the unions – COSATU and SACTWU. In turn, SACTWU drove the implementation to conciliate their constituency where jobs were hemorrhaging at an unprecedented rate.

The impositions of the quotas are linked to developments both politically and economically that occurred more than ten years ago.

For the full report look under the label "Research on SA Clothing & Fashion Sector."


My Say

Recently, there has been a lot of debate about the usage of certain terminology that is used in the promotion of our younger fashion designers. There seems to be misuse or confusion of the exact meaning of the words: emerging, graduates and students. Emerging means someone is starting off in the industry—the designer has already graduated from a fashion college and/or is on the path of developing their own business. Graduate means a designer has already completed their studies. We need to clearly define the context of graduate. As a graduate can be someone who has just completed their studies or someone who has completed their studies a number of years ago. Student means a designer is still a student at a design college. Clarifying the terminology will dispel with a lot of confusion about the necessary criteria for participation in Fashion Weeks by our younger designers.


Off the Seams: General Information from the world of Fashion, Clothing and Textiles

India seeks to revaluate labour law in Clothing & Textile Sector

Citing rigid labour laws as a major constraint to the growth of the clothing and apparel segment, a textiles ministry working group has called for liberalising labour laws by permitting contract labour in export-oriented units to adjust their workforce according to demand. The recommendations state, “This will facilitate outsourcing activities as well as contractual appointments. However, units would have to take care of the health, safety and social security of the workers.” The working group has also recommended that the government consider the demand of labour intensive sections of the textile industry, such as the made-ups and garment sector, to increase working hours from a nine-hour shift at present to 12 hours, and also increase the total working hours in a week from 48 to 60. This would allow the units to cater to peak season requirements of customers and compensate for lower labour productivity.
Rupesh Janve / New Delhi August 13, 2007

Botswana 2006 Exports in Textiles and Apparel

Of the US$252 million exports achieved in 2006, US$28 million came from Botswana’s textile and apparel sector. Most of these exports were achieved through the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Sweatshops in Mauritius

Recent data indicates that apparel imports into South Africa from Mauritius has grown to over R11 million so far this year. Investigation of the apparel industry in Mauritius has provided evidence that workers in this sector are working 70 hours a week and are earning less than R5.00 an hour. With such cheap labour there is no doubt that South African retailers will increase their orders from Mauritius.


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ReDress© /07 South Africa