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Evané: ‘Sticking with our niche’

Published: 20th Oct 2025

Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA – Leather men’s footwear manufacturer Evané Footwear has kept to its business model of supplying only independent retailers and wholesalers, member Raffique Shah said last week.

“Supplying chains would mean switching to synthetics and supplying much bigger volumes,” he said. “Leather footwear has become much more of a luxury item, and we’ve had to reduce production to 300 pairs/day with a 4-day week – not the levels I would like to be at – but we are now a niche manufacturer, and there’s some security in that.”

He said Evané would review its strategy for next year.

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