Sham glam for Africa?

Article By:Thamar Houliston
25th February 2009

The Chinese are infamous for their fetish for big names. When I was teaching English in Taiwan, I remember my boss saving the whole year to buy herself a Louis Vuitton 'original' handbag, despite the fact that the rest of her wardrobe was pretty average.

What's the allure of big brand names? Well, perhaps it's because in Asia the concept of 'face', or how others perceive you is fundamental to your place in society and closely related to status.
There's no doubt that this neverending struggle to acquire big brands by the general population, extends to other countries too.

Africa is another frontrunner in this trend, with many poor individuals often having the latest brand names, despite their income level.

So how does one explain the most recent trend in fashion — 'sham glam'? Fashion in a recession?
'Sham Glam' is basically 'fake' fashion, or rip-offs of the originals. Although previously shunned as unsophisticated, these fake products are now becoming accepted alternative brands in China.
These 'sham glam' goods have slightly altered names, treading the fine line between imitation and straight-out fake, and cost much much less than their above-board, well-known brand-name equivalents. They are not infringing on copyright, but still riding the wave created by the forerunning brands.

For example, Samsung goes to Samsing, Adidas goes to Odidoss or Avivas and Hike, Like or even Mike a substitute for Nike.

With the global recession, it's likely that even if they don't really make the status cut, they might well be the new 'brands' of choice.

So could the same happen in South Africa?

In a third-world country with a massive low-income population could the rise of 'ama-cheap-cheap' rip-offs become big in the fashion industry?

Robyn Cooke, style writer and fashion blogger, says: "For everyone that likes a bit of a bargain, it's hard to resist good fakes. If the item looks pretty much the same as the original — and let's be realistic, it will function pretty much the same — then why not get something fun and fabulous to add to your wardrobe at a fraction of the price?"

A matter of ethics?

"Unfortunately, it's also a matter of ethics. Just because you can get something that is essentially a stolen design, doesn't mean you should. But it is hard for the average cash-strapped consumer to make that distinction when the price difference is so vast," adds Robyn.

Is it true though that these 'original designs' are ethical themselves?

Renato Palmi of the ReDress Consultancy in South Africa notes that, "the perception that a 'Made in Italy' product represents skilled artisanship in an environment where ethics, corporate social responsibility is a fundamental ingredient of the manufacturers' ethos no longer exists within these luxury goliaths."

In fact, not all 'Made in Italy' labels are made in Italy. Many are "partly made in developing countries and final additions done in Italy."

So is sham glam perhaps a 'take back' by these developing countries, where products ultimately land up on shelves anyway, but with a price tag not many can afford? Or are they actually more harmful to the local economy?

Something to be concerned about?

Renato also says: "I think the possibility of 'sham glam' products entering the South African market is something that the creative industry in South Africa should be concerned about and begin to find strategies to counter the influx of these products, that will dilute South African design and erode into the sustainability of businesses linked to this industry sector."

"With consumers looking to stretch their rand as far as possible but still wanting to look trendy, they may begin to look for alternative ways to keep up with the latest trends. And what better way than wearing and using items that have similar names to the favourite brands but come with a more affordable price tag?"

"The emergence of sham glam products entering South Africa will create numerous problems for the local clothing industry. Currently the South African Revenue Services are trying to curb illegal apparel imports and the emergence of fake products flooding the SA market will overburden Sars."

"Local entrepreneurs will also see an opportunity to copy local fashion designers' designs and sell these goods within both the formal and informal economy.

"These unscrupulous business operations will exploit the delicate line between copyright legality and counterfeits by cleaver name changes and even subtle style changes. We may even see the worse case scenario where local apparel manufacturers for the sake of survival begin to produce these cheap imitations."

Robyn also says that many people won't be able to distinguish between the real thing and fakes.
"Those that know and love the original design will be able to recognise it (most times) as a rip-off, but the average person in the street won't."

And so concludes Renato: "The possible growth of these shameful products in South Africa flooding the local market will be due to the financial crises we are in and for the majority of consumers the concept of supporting local fashion design will be a distant thought when such alternatives are made available to them."

Changing mindsets?

"There seems to be a new consciousness that has entered our local minds," says Robyn. As the economy continues to suffer, getting something at a bargain price is increasingly a source of pride, even amongst the wealthy classes.

Where once consumer pride was all about flashing your designer goods as a mark of being able to afford it, now this pride is about being canny enough to grab a good bargain and loudly declare it."

"This consciousness serves to further open up a 'rip-off consumer culture', where getting something like the original but at a vastly reduced price, is in fact socially encouraged."
What do you think? Do you think it's completely unethical for these cheap alternatives to be on the market, or do you think that it's only fair capitalism and competition?

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South African Fashion Sector must wake-up

Glamour is great but sustainability is greater.

You don't have to be a scientist to do fashion. You have to sell, and that's that.
Zoran Ladicoribc 1998

International renowned designers who wish to survive are not hiding behind a fashion utopia. They may still hold over-elaborate fashion shows but they know the bottom line to survival is sales. Selling not to an elite cliental but selling to the mass. Italian couturier Roberto Cavlli said, "It's not a time for romance." Giorgio Armani said the fashion world had been "too euphoric."

The 1987 stock market crash had the same effect on the fashion world as is happing now. Christian Lacroix was the designer of the moment. However, he had an air of defiance and lived in a fanciful world. His collections were pleasing, elegant and exciting but they did not sell. With millions of Dollars in losses his financial backers realised that they had been persuaded to back the designer because of his elevated status and had not really scrutinised his business model. By the late 1990s Lacroix had faded from the fashion stage.

Potential financial backers of designers are not looking for the glamour factor or at one-off moments of fame at fashion weeks what they look for is sustainability, prudent and realistic business models.

The fashion industry is being forced to restructure itself to meet the challenges it faces due to the global economic crisis. The Italian fashion industry has asked for help from the government. The Indian government is introducing an export incentive for its textile sector and even China is facing difficulty in its clothing and fashion industry sector. However, putting aside the rhetoric of saving jobs and how import the creative industry is for development the South African government seems to be doing nothing for the clothing, textile and fashion sector. Trade experts and economists have responded to the government's response to the economic crisis as being futile.

This does not spell gloom for our fashion sector. What it presents is opportunities for establish designers to take heed of what is taking place globally and adapt their business strategies accordingly. For students of fashion this is an ideal opportunity for them to watch how establish designers are coping, what restructuring they are doing and to learn from their mistakes. Unfortunately, South Africa's fashion industry still seems to be focused on the "glamour" of fashion. Talk shops on how designers should adapt are just that if nothing is implemented. Lessons from the history of fashion are an important tool for students of fashion. As fashion is a continual cycle so is history.

Zoran Ladicorbic a world renowned designer grew his fashion empire at a period when other fashion houses were collapsing. The basics of his success were simple. His clothing sold. In 1998 sales of his clothing from one retailer, Saks was worth $30 million. He kept his business small, he knew his own limitations and kept his designs simple but in tune with his core market. He did not spend money on a whimsical lifestyle. His business was based on multi-tasking and being frugal.

Our industry needs to be frugal, realistic and sponsorship money for fashion weeks spent wisely. There is no need to downsize South African fashion weeks. What I think should be taking place is a change in the criteria of participation in these fashion extravaganzas. The stakeholders of these events should be placing an emphasis on commercial, sellable and affordable fashion and not on artistic talent or favourites.

Karl Lagerfield has equated the current crisis as a "big spring clean" for the fashion industry. Even Paris has curtailed it fashion shows. The French federation in charge of the couture calendar clearly has the industry at heart when they told designers and fashion houses not to spend money on participating in its events if they felt it was a risk. In Australia the Perth Fashion Festival is cutting back on their program. The celebrated New York Fashion Week found ways to cut back on expenses. Steven Kolb the executive director of the Council of Designers of America said the industry has to return to what it's all about and that is selling clothes. "It is not about air kisses, flashbulbs and media hoopla." Robert Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs said, there was no need to spend money on entertainment. President of Russian Fashion Week, Alexander Shumsy, felt "The crisis will affect world fashion weeks."

Hailed as South Africa's fashion couple, the owners of Sun Goddess are now in trouble. Having closed down at least four of its five shops, retrenching staff and cutting back on production they seem to be according to media resources in a spiral of debt. The question every student of fashion and established designer should ask is why this happened? The answer I think is simple. Bad business management and the "celebrity" status they enjoyed caused them to take their eyes off the fundamentals of their business.

This is a core problem in the industry. We seem to elevate fashion designers to a status of "success." What is the criterion used to define South African "top design talent?" Furthermore, what does it mean "Taking African fashion to the world?" Is the world really interested in African fashion when their own fashion, clothing and textile sectors are facing job losses, retail closures and a drop in sales?

Apparel sales in North American stores are declining and apparel imports into America are decreasing. In December Gap Inc saw a 12% decrease in sales and a 19% drop in its January 2009 sales. Other large companies saw retail sales declining between 5.4% to 17% in the last quarter. Price seems to be the main issue for consumers and retailers will be pushing this down the value-chain.

Should we not instead be taking South African fashion to South African consumers and developing efficient collaboration between design and manufacturing? Ought we to not be engaging more with our retailers and finding mechanisms for them to support more local designed content?

I am not saying we have to do away with glamour and beautiful designs. What I am saying is to survive should designers not be using their creativity and ingenuity in creating more sustainable sellable garments that will be financially rewarding for them and ultimately for the entire apparel value-chain. Selling one beautiful garment may help an individual designer but it will not help the industry. However, semi mass produced garments will have a positive spin-off for the entire apparel industry.