Footwear - Leather - PPE Industry News & Articles

Not long ago, Portugal’s footwear industry was on the brink of collapse, drowning under a wave of cheap Chinese imports. Factories shut down, jobs disappeared, and the sector seemed doomed. But instead of fading away, Portugal fought back reinventing itself into one of the world’s most sought-after footwear producers.South Afr ...more

Recent changes to the “de minimis” exemption, which previously allowed packages under $800 to enter the U.S. tax-free, have raised concerns about the future of fast fashion giants Shein and Temu, as well as Amazon’s newest entrant into the market, Amazon Haul. But what’s really at play ...more

The 2024 StockX Current Culture Index reveals some interesting trends in the resale market. Here are some of the key takeaways:SneakersAnta is the fastest-growing sneaker brand on StockX, with a whopping 1,901% trade growth year-over-year. This is largely thanks to Kyrie Irving’s signature shoe, the Kai ...more

Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights firm, has initiated a class action lawsuit against Crocs, Inc., representing all purchasers of Crocs common stock between November 3, 2022, and October 28, 2024. The lawsuit alleges that Crocs misled investors regarding its acquisition of HEYDUDE, a casual footwear brand.Key allegations include:1. ...more

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – Retired former footwear agent Zelton Wiskin died in January, after a long illness, aged 66.Born in Johannesburg, he left school early to work for his stepfather, Aubrey Fuchs, who was also an agent.He represented 2 footwear companies for most of his working career – women’s footwear manufactur ...more

Harare, Zimbabwe – I note Hub Bijsterveld's memorial (09 February) in the Newsletter. Just a snippet about him. He was one of the best, if not the best chemist in the whole of the worldwide Bata Shoe Organisation. We used to have regular annual "Chemeets" in various parts of the world for our Chemists and Hub stood ou ...more

Barry Turner joined British United Shoe Machinery (BUSM) in Port Elizabeth in the 1970s, when PE was still a major footwear manufacturing centre and BUSM was the preeminent machinery and component supplier to the footwear industry. He got in touch with S&V last year looking for fellow BUSM old boy Johannes (Hannes) Harding, who, with ...more

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – The R-CTFL Masterplan – at its most visible level – has come to a halt.The government-funded contract for the project co-ordinators, B&M Analysts (BMA), ended at the end of last year, and has thus far not been renewed.That has meant that the weekly and monthly PMO meetings, the interface betw ...more

Brussels, Belgium (06 February 2025) – The European Commission has asked online fast-fashion retailer Shein to provide internal documents and more detailed information on risks linked to the presence of illegal goods and content on its marketplace, the EU executive said on Thursday.Shein said it welcomes "efforts that enhance t ...more

Zelton Wiskin, my friend.I'm sure you won't mind me sharing a fond memory of you with the shoe industry.In the good old days as shoe agents, we became good friends. You were taught by one of the best in the business (Aubrey). In those days we knew how to have fun and entertain our customers who became our friends.My best memory was when w ...more

The fundamental function of retanning has been to impart the final crust leather properties to the leather. The strength, softness, grain break, crust resistance (sweat, fastness, water spotting), fullness, drape, roundness, run, and nap properties; are common properties imparted by a typical retannage. The traditional leather science tex ...more

Industry associations play a crucial role in the growth and development of businesses and professionals within specific sectors. These organisations bring together experience and knowledge to provide a collective voice, valuable resources, and networking opportunities that are beneficial for both individuals and companies.In the leather i ...more

7 Leagues is a Canadian fish skin leather tannery. CEO Tasha Nathanson previously wrote an article for S&V African Leather outlining the fish skin leather industry globally. 7 Leagues has been reinventing itself, as she explains below. You can also see more here: https://www.7leagues.com/ ...more

Debating Ideas reflects the values and editorial ethos of the African Arguments book series, publishing engaged, often radical, scholarly, original and activist writing from within the African continent and beyond. It offers debates and engagements, contexts and controversies, and reviews and responses flowing from the African Argume ...more

A new leather processing programme, 42 new enterprises, 22 women's saving groups, and 2,876 young people with enhanced business development capacities—these are just some of the achievements within The Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employment Creation (LISEC).The three-and-a-half-year Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employme ...more

On the last day of 2024 I read a very interesting article on Reuters’ website which I want to share with you hoping it is still available https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/inside-luxury-goods-broken-audit-system-2024-12-31/The article focusses on two important issues, being the lack of transparency of part of the ...more

Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA – Mark Oosthuizen, the long-serving secretary and legal counsel to the SA Tanning Employers’ Organisation (SATEO), has retired.In an email, he wrote: “Yes, I can confirm that after much soul searching and medical advice, I have come to realize that I am not in position to give my clients the s ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (28 January 2025) – South Africa became the 154th ‘contracting party’ to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) by depositing its instrument of accession with the Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on 23 December 2024, acc ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (29 January 2025) – TLU SA rejects the new Act on the Conservation and Development of Agricultural Land. The agricultural organisation believes this law is nothing more than a veil for greater state control and a direct threat to the future of agriculture in South Africa. It runs almost parallel to the Expropri ...more

It’s quite funny, really.Seldom have so many South African apparel retailers been as united as they are in their opposition to twin international threats, ecommerce retailers Temu and Shein, while simultaneously, many of their own managements and staffs – and their families – are not-so-secret customers of those same ent ...more