Fashion Designers face an upwardbattle in South Africa - not least because our clothing and textilemanufacturing sectors face a growing presence of cheaper Asian imports afterthe termination of quotas in December this year.


What's more, there's been no new agreement negotiated with China to stave off a flood of cheap imports that's resulted in crowding out SA'smanufacturers and stifling growth in our fashion industry.


One strong advocate of local fashion is industry expertRenato Palmi. Eventhough the industry took modest steps at its first Fashion Exchange +27conference in Cape Town last month to help SA's designers become profitable and sustainable in the highly competitive global market, there's as yet no coherentplan for redress, says Palmi. "The Government is trying but its strategyis currently all over the place. From an industry perspective there's nocollaboration or cohesion. The industry is fragmented, with much dog-eat-dog behavior."


That means if the industry has any hope of flourishingagainst the onslaught of cheaper Asian imports, it will have to find new nichesin the market that give it a competitive edge over the Chinese.


Having worked for world-renowned luxury fashion brands suchas Bally and LVMH (the Louis Vuitton group), Italian-born Giovanni Lepori, whomade several presentations to SA designers at Fashion Exchange +27, highlightedkey areas of focus for countries hoping to build a sustainable fashionindustry. "You can't compete with Asian exporters on price. The price game isn't sustainable - which means countries like SA have to move further upthe value chain and create quality luxury products for tailored nichemarkets."


Lepori says Italy's fashion industry is a useful example ofhow to combat challenges worldwide. "The Italians have focused oninnovation and skills investment to stay ahead in this game. They've stayedaway from mass markets and focused on niche markets, exploiting thecraftsmanship and existing expertise in that country in areas such astailoring, leather goods and fabric manufacturing to create high qualitygarments and justify their premiums." The value of luxury brands is thatthey often have high margins and are surprisingly resilient to cyclicalchanges, says Lepori. Then there's the opportunity to capitalize on ethicalfashion at the high end of the market in developing countries such as SA.


"SA has the opportunity to make money from the 'ethicalfashion' trend that's currently highly prevalent in European markets. Suchmarkets derive value from knowing their fashion is contributing to a betterworld in some way and they're prepared to pay a premium for it," saysLepori.


But that raises more acutely the question of how that wouldhappen in an industry as amorphous as fashion. Says Palmi: "We need anunbiased umbrella body that can co-ordinate and address policy affectingdesigners. When the quotas where discussed two years ago there was no organizationthat represented the fashion designers. SA retailers - the big boys in thatsector - have a representative body, the clothing manufacturers have a representative body and even the workers are represented. But the fashion industry isn't."


Trouble is the industry seems to be looking to Government tocreate solutions. But Palmi warns that approach isn't sensible. "Thisindustry needs to work towards being more self-sufficient and less reliant onGovernment to lead it."


Most industry players agree the first step would be tocreate a unified front by encouraging designers to become more collaborativeand co-operative. Gavin Rajah, one of SA'scommercially successful designers and Tziona Aronson - the brains behind therecent Fashion Exchange +27 conference - share that view.


Says Rajah: "The industry needs to take a moreintelligent view of itself and work towards improving and perfecting the craftin a way that's profitable. I find many young designers out there are cluelessabout the basic skills required to create a profitable business."


For example, Woolworths has created an SA designers sectionin its retail stores. It's often cited as a working example of how localdesigners can increase their revenue and exposure in a mutually beneficial way.


 

The downside is that the notable few designers in SA, such as Rajah, Stoned Cherry, Hip-Hop and Sun Goddess, which do have a business sense, keep appearing, says Palmi.


The good news is that smaller start-ups can succeed in directing their scarce resources in the right direction - with a bit of organization, of course.


This article was originally published in FinWeek - a South African financial print magazine



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