S&V Footwear & Leather Goods Magazine Vol80 No4 April 2017
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Industry Barometer
Topline Manufacturers: Very slow first half, but confidence up as orders to hold stock come in.
Kadisco Paint and Adhesive Industry: All sectors of Ethiopian footwear industry doing well.
CG Shoes: Waiting for retailers to clear old stock.
CC Leather: Feeling positive as sales improve.
Bolton Footwear: Learning from hard lessons.
C.Y. Lin: Feedback shows where to concentrate.
American Shop: Counterfeits an added problem.
Beggio’s Clothing: Where have all the foreigners gone?
Opinion: Phillip Nutt
Can you teach creativity?.
Chain Profile: Studio 88 Group
The unspoken aim is to dominate men’s branded apparel.
The Innovators: Grandt Mason
From vegan dabbler to global aspirant.
Advertisers in this Issue
Apeco (2), BBF Safety Group (OFC), Crep Protect (4), C.Y. Lin/Zäh Petite (13), Katz Footwear/Willow (6), Neptun Boot (8), Tuftex (10).
- Grandt Mason: From vegan dabbler to global aspirant
Cape Town, SA – Both as a footwear designer and as an entrepreneur, Grandt Mason has been genuinely creative in the development of his business.The company he has spent 15 years building – Grandt Mason – is a successful artisanal manufacturer of men’s and women’s comfortable fashion footwear with 3 retail out ...moreLearning from hard lessons
Jacques Pretorius, head of group sales, Bolton Footwear Cape Town, SA – Despite a tough trading period in South Africa for all fashion manufacturers and retailers, we are very optimistic about the future. We learned some hard lessons in 2016 and are now capitalizing on the growth opportunities that we have created with our newl ...moreAll sectors of Ethiopian footwear industry doing well
Saifudin Khalifa, Deputy G/M, Kadisco Paint and Adhesive Industry S.C.Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Generally the industry is developing well, particularly for the exporters. There is a forex shortage which is affecting all business in general but those companies involved in exports are faring better. What I found interesting at the ...moreFeedback shows where to concentrate
Peter Lin, proprietor, C.Y. LinCape Town, SA – We only began testing the market late last year, and the first containers only arrived in April. The feedback from customers so far is that they are selling well.Because we’re a new label, a lot of independents are on a testing stage. Customers are happy with the price points and ...moreFeeling positive as sales improve
Tom Bassage, member, CC LeatherPietermaritzburg, SA – Our turnover is up on last year – I estimate by between 10% and 15% – but I think our profitability is much the same.I think the reason for the increase has simply been that we’ve introduced some cheaper lines. Essentially, we’ve added some synthetic upper ...moreThe Studio 88 Group - The unspoken aim is to dominate men\'s branded apparelJohannesburg, SA – This article differs from all preceding articles in this series in that it was submitted to us without an interview, and with the proviso that there would be no photos of personnel. It was written in September last year. From Laurence Wernars, chairman of the Studio 88 group of companiesI thank you for your i ...moreVery slow first half, but confidence up as orders to hold stock come inCollin Pillay, member, Topline ManufacturersDurban, SA – Our turnover for the first 4 months is definitely down – by as much as 20%, and we just hope and pray that it will pick up.Some of our customers have work, but the independents are very quiet and it seems many of the chains aren’t placing orders at the moment eithe ...moreWaiting for retailers to clear old stockGerald Jason, member, CG ShoesDurban, SA – Our turnover is down compared to the same period last year.The situation is that independent retailers just don’t want to place orders at the moment because they’re sitting with stock after a poorer-than-expected Christmas season and a disastrous Easter.Most of them have told us ...moreCounterfeits an added problemMuhammad Ismail, director, American ShopPretoria, SA – I’d say our turnover is on par with last year. We service the lower end of the market and the main factors affecting our consumers are unemployment and inflation. We sell mostly brands, and we are also very badly affected by counterfeits – they sell ‘Nike&rsquo ...moreWhere have all the foreigners gone?Arvin Govind, proprietor, Beggio’s ClothingJohannesburg, SA – Turnover is down about 30%.People haven’t got money at the moment, and unemployment is a big factor.There has also been a big drop in the number of foreigners shopping here – from Botswana, Mozambique and other neighbouring states. Previously they came t ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- A perspective: Perhaps it was an eye-opener for industry players to hear each otherLooking back over the workshop, BMA consultant Justin Snelling wrote: “In terms of our reflections of the workshop, we covered a lot of territory. Perhaps though what was most encouraging was the breadth of participation from different segments of the sector and their willingness, or even excitement, to contribute. We don’t ta ...moreDuty evasion, false country of origin and labelling main targets: NCC and SARS ‘sign MoU to strengthen compliance’Media statement issued jointly by the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and SA Revenue Service (SARS)Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (06 May 2026) – The National Consumer Commission (NCC) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance consumer protection against the proliferation of ...moreLemaitre’s Robust Pro, ‘based on user feedback, is a gamechanger in safety footwear’
Lemaitre, a trusted leader in safety footwear, is proud to announce the launch of the New Robust Pro, a reimagined safety shoe designed to deliver unparalleled comfort, durability, and all-around protection for workers across industries. With the Robust Pro we set out to create a shoe that truly works as hard as the people who wear it by ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Sam Setter's 'Pills': Congratulations!Congratulations and compliments to UNIC and COTANCE for the huge job they have done together with LCHA, AHSLEA, Beef & Lamb New Zealand, TDSD, CICB, ALLPI, ICT, ICHSLTA, ICEC and SLF as well as many others by convincing the EU to scrap bovine hides from the EUDR directive. A long and tiring process which has cost them lots of time and ...moreSARLEN: Defining what needs to be doneThe SARLEN webinar on 12 June 2026 featured 3 main speakers. The entire presentation can be seen here: : https://drive.google.com/file/d/14xBkPMTqsln-YuqkCXsm_vsazDwNqL83/view?usp=sharing ...moreLEATHER’S ELEMENTARY UNIT
Geoff Attenburrow’s PhD student David M. Wright worked on the behaviour of leather under strain (Attenburrow, 1993; Wright, 1996). They were the first to describe that leather had a “co-operating unit”, a set of structures within leather that helped the leather to resist breaking and to resist deformation at low strain.T ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Proactive or reactive? The importance of choosing the correct hand protection
Our aim is to deliver value to the user experience by ensuring optimal protection, compliance, and operational confidence in every task performed.Hand protection has evolved significantly in response to the critical need to reduce workplace injuries and strengthen safety performance across diverse industries.Modern advancements in materia ...moreThe concepts behind safety: Why bother with PPE on the ‘Road to Zero Harm’?
For over a decade, the ILO and other such bodies have been pushing this whole notion of "Zero Harm", "Road to Zero" and other such catchy titles, all pushing the idea most probably backed by one-sided research that "Zero Harm" is the only way and can be achieved if you work hard enough.My problem with this id ...moreUnderstanding local and international PPE standards: Clarity in a complex landscape
Appearances and claims to the contrary, South Africa’s PPE industry “is largely unregulated, and a high percentage of PPE on the market is not compliant with official standards”, uvex Safety SA MD Christo Nel said, “and that’s a problem at many levels, and for the entire value chain”.He said the fundame ...more
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