S & V Publications

Milan, Italy – On Wednesday last week, footwear fair Micam, leather goods fair Mipel, and haut-à-porter show The One Milano, announced they had changed dates from 20-22 February to 13-15 March 2022. They said the new dates would partially overlap with the fashion jewellery and accessories fair Homi Fashion & Jewels, on 11-14 March. All fairs will be at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition centre. ...more

On 04 January, Footwear News surveyed US retailers about trends expected to dominate the men's market there this year. Their picks suggested footwear, dominated by sneakers, will remain mostly casual, whereas formal clothing is making a comeback. Read the full article: HerernLocally, last week we asked a dozen men's footwear suppliers for their forecasts. 4 - all importers - responded: ...more

In the January edition of S&V Footwear & Leather Goods last week, the lead article was that if the SA footwear manufacturing industry is to grow, it must start making sneakers. Here are submissions from 2 people who say it can. ...more

Milling drum manufacturer Revomec is the platinum sponsor company of the III IULTCS EuroCongress Vicenza 2022, to be held from 18-20 September 2022. ...more

A statement by Björn Jönsson, President of the SLTC (SA Section) At a committee meeting of the SLTC (SA Section) held on March 08, 2021, we took the sad decision to cancel the planned 2021 Convention.      We believe that nobody would want to spend all day in a room full of possible Corona virus tra ...more

Wellington, W Cape, SA - One has to acknowledge that the remainder of 2020 will be very tough.  Liquidity in the industry will be the largest challenge we face and all of us have to act responsibly to our customers and suppliers in this regard.   There is vast uncertainty about the medium term future and shoe manufacturers ...more

Windhoek - "We're actually among the lucky firms," said sales representative Samantha Pieterse of PPE distributor J. Gerdes Uniwear. "A lot of companies have closed down, and business is a bit up and down, but overall we're trading quite well." Although the business doesn't carry facemasks, she said sourcing any forms ...more

Springs, Gauteng – "I can't complain," said Cattell's Industrial Footwear owner Rob Cattell. "January was on par with last year, February was slightly up. This month will be down on last year, because it was in March last year that the first lockdown started."      That good month l ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (March 15, 2021) – A Cape Town medical equipment supplier, accused of charging the Western Cape Department of Health excessive prices for medical examination gloves, has supplied the Department, at no charge, with 49 400 surgical masks to the same value (at cost) as the estimated “excessive profits& ...more

Shoemakers who know Jean Teplitsky genuflect when they mention his name. He, however, is quite humble. What is the inspiration for your brand/styling/concept? My inspiration is contemporary style integrated with classic techniques elevating the product to the highest level, while always trying to balance comfort, aesthetic and q ...more

Patricia Terre is Spanish. With local Rizqah Isaacs, she co-founded Handmade Espadril in 2014. She studied fashion styling at Central Saint Martins in London and both worked in retail with first line and luxury brands for years. "We lived surrounded by some of the most exclusive brands in the world, which taught us everything we know ...more

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA - The Dakotas footwear brand - which was bought from the liquidators of Footwear Direct in July - "is back up and running", and is the subject of a raft of plans, says Clive Pozniak, MD of Supreme Hat & Cap (Pty) Ltd, the new owners of Dakotas Supreme, a headwear manufacturer, and its sister company ...more

The product called E-Leather by the company that makes it (it stands for 'leather evolved' or 'engineered leather' - really?) or Fly Leather by Nike, is one of the synthetic products which incorporates leather waste. But the claim that it is therefore more environmentally acceptable than leather doesn't hold up. ...more

Deborah Taylor, MD of the Sustainable Leather Foundation, took part in a Bangladesh International Investment Summit in November. Here she writes about the summit and visits to tanneries and leather goods and footwear manufacturers. ...more

Fraunhofer researchers have collaborated with partners to develop a platform to remove weeds fully automatically. The mobile AMU-Bot robot system navigates using optical sensors and removes weeds mechanically without the need for chemicals. ...more

Generally speaking, the lighter it is, the more it costs. This is the second in a series of articles on bullet resistant vests by Deon du Plessis, MD of Bullet Proofing Technology (Pty) Ltd, in which he outlines the soft and hard materials which go into BRVs. His business manufactures a wide range of body armour plates and vehicle armour, and supplies a number of other bullet resistant vest manufacturers. ...more

The NRCS needs to do what it's supposed to do - Sourcing from China hasn't been a problem - Swing to lower priced boots, but demand is good. ...more

Q&A with Ndlela Mazibuko, BBF Safety Group sales manager ...more