Footwear - Leather - PPE Industry News & Articles

Arzignano, Vicenza, Italy – Alpe Spak’s new through-feed splitting machine system, the Predator, has been designed to reduce the number of specialised operators, improve worker safety, and improve the quality of the leather.It operates with a patented concept to split in green, lime and now also wet blue.It was developed from ...more

Northampton, UK – Ken Moakes died in April, after a short time in hospital, aged 79, of cardiac and renal failure.To me, starting out with African Leather magazine, He was both advisor and friend. He and the late Barry Nash (and unnamed others) would send me a monthly gossip column on the leather trade – never malicious, but g ...more

"The world has become a crazy place. We are not thinking anymore autonomously but are influenced against our better knowledge about matters that are clear lies but we are induced to accept them as the truth. I looked it up and it’s called ‘double thinking’. People are told to live a sustainable bio-based life and ar ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – The leather crafting market has picked up, starting last October, but is still nowhere near as buoyant as before or immediately after covid, said Kevin Thompson, director of leather, trims and tools supplier Leatherite International.“Most of last year was a bit tough,” he said. “You can see ...more

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – On the fashion side local manufacturers in general are finding business quite tough. There are manufacturers operating in “niche” areas of the market that are doing quite well.On a more positive note, our school shoe manufacturers seem to be doing okay. On the industrial side we do not really ope ...more

Northampton, UK – I have just finished my time as a volunteer at the museum where Ken was a volunteer. Once again it has all been packed away only for some bits to occasionally be on show at the town museum and other places who are more interested than Northampton - makes me so cross!!I seem to keep busy. I am scanning SLTC back jou ...more

Alfonso Smerilli has had a long and varied career in the South African footwear industry and now, just shy of his 52nd birthday, and in a sector which is mostly struggling, he’s embarked on his most challenging role yet – as a factory owner, blazing a different trail.His start in the footwear industry was with a factory owned ...more

Was this your first overseas exhibition? No, I have done 5 other exhibitions, but this was my first time in Hong Kong.Did you do any confirmed business? – No.Did you come away with realistic leads? – Yes, I did.Are your current products appropriate for export? – Yes, they are.Because of your participation at APLF, are th ...more

East London, E. Cape, SA – Infix Creations won the best traditional handbag award and was chosen to feature in the trend area, positioning South Africa as a trend leader. This was a very big achievement with world buyers present.  ...more

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – We found the fair to be excellent and, in many ways, back to the old glory days where everybody that we do business with around the globe attended.  We had current and past customers visit us from North America, South America, Europe, Australia and of course the East (which included Japan, Korea, etc).T ...more

SAFLEC executive director Nerisha Jairaj took part in session 1 of the Global Footwear Executive Summit, which covered footwear production and its supply chain.The theme of the session was to discuss the current scenario where the demand for footwear is significantly lower than the available supply, and finding a balance for the supply ch ...more

George, W. Cape, SA – The luxury end of the travel goods market “is doing better than more affordable alternatives”, FrontierCo group merchandise executive Kennith Barlow said this month.“I know that sounds odd in the present economic climate, and we’re not oblivious to the fact that the target market is a ve ...more

Concerns About the Eco-Friendly Footwear Market and Thesus's Unconventional Approach. The Weekend Boot™, retailing at about $200, has sold over $3M worth in 3 years. Made with 96% renewable materials, its maker, Thesus, now reveals the manufacturing process and intellectual property behind the boot to the world. ...more

Quoting Circana, which produces reports on U.S. consumer behaviour, news channel CNBC reported on 12 April that Western-style boot sales climbed more than 20% the week after Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” was released late last month.It said that “though cowboy boots may typify the Western look, other pieces, inc ...more

In a graphic demonstration of how one person can be ‘cool’ while another, in very similar circumstances, is ‘uncool’, a report 09 April on CNN contrasted UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with former U.S. President Barack Obama – on their shoes. ...more

In a graphic demonstration of how one person can be ‘cool’ while another, in very similar circumstances, is ‘uncool’, a report 09 April on CNN contrasted UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with former U.S. President Barack Obama – on their shoes. ...more

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – The group monitoring the progress of the R-CTFL Masterplan – the PMO Core – “does not have a mandate to engage with the media”, according to Michael Lawrence, who represents the National Clothing Retail Federation of SA (NCRF) on the PMO Core.He was responding last week to the report ...more

21 businesses from Africa exhibited in Hong Kong in March. Of those, 4 were from Ethiopia and 3 were from Egypt.The SA exhibitors were divided between finished goods exhibitors on a sponsored national pavilion in the Fashion Access hall, overseen by the SA Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC), and 3 leather chemicals and leather ...more

Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA – We had a very successful APLF and were busy on all 3 days. We use these fairs to fly the NTE flag but also to meet many of our agents from the region as travel in and out of Hong Kong is very convenient for them. Some don’t attend ACLE in Shanghai as they see it as a Chinese fair and travelling ther ...more

Umdloti, KZN, SA – How did you do at APLF?  We exhibited as a tannery and as a luxury exotic brand in finished goods.  Sales on our finished goods was surprisingly good and we have confirmed orders from Japan, Korea and China for belts, wallets and luggage.  We met existing customers for exotic leathers and met new cu ...more