Movement to wear local labels gains traction

who made your clothes

The Wear SA Fashion Festival is gaining popularity through its #IWearSA movement that aims to promote local brands. The festival hopes to boost the South African clothing and textile industry by encouraging people to buy more local labels from South African designers, retailers and manufacturers. The festival runs in conjunction with SA Fashion Week and…

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Can the fashion industry be sustainable?

we made your clothes

Fashion trends come and go as quickly as the seasons and styles change on a monthly basis. All of this requires new designs and materials, which can take its toll on the environment. So, can the fashion industry be sustainable? It is estimated that by 2030, the fashion industry will need 50% more water, its…

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What’s in store for SA’s clothing stores?

who made your clothes

The future of local clothing retailers is looking positive, despite facing stiff competition from multinational brands. The same cannot be said for retailers abroad as new technologies have led to the possibility of e-commerce and automated delivery. This is the view held by Brett Kaplan, a retail consultant, during a talk he gave at the…

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Top fashion brands in hot water for cultural appropriation

The Maasai own the intellectual property to their cultural prints and patterns © Harvey Barrison

The Maasai’s range of blue-and-red checkered prints are their intellectual property © Harvey Barrison. The red and blue checkered prints of the Maasai are a key cultural signature of the Tanzania- and Kenya-based ethnic group. These prints have long been used on the runways and in the collections of top fashion brands such as Ralph…

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Top trends from SA Menswear Week

House of St Luke - Simon Deiner / SDR Photo

House of St Luke – Simon Deiner / SDR Photo The South African Menswear Week (SAMW) saw designers showcasing their 2018 autumn/winter lines in the second week of February. Bold and brash catalogues were the order of the day as many of the designers went for powerful and daring aesthetics. Activism and social issues were…

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