S&V Footwear & Leather Goods Magazine Vol81 No4 April 2018
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Business Barometer: Still hanging on
- Reunion Components: Much quieter than last year, but some positives on the horizon.
- A1 Bags: Innovate, cut costs and hang in there.
- Best Shoes: Tough, but we were expecting worse.
- Foot Fashion: The key is the right product at the right price.
- Afro Thai Imports: It boils down to a very tight economy.
- AM Badat: The twin challenges of chains and counterfeits.
Business
- Chic: We try to learn from our mistakes, says IDC.
- SAFLEC seeks to clarify exports to BLNS countries.
Company News
- Dangee Carken: Handpicked head for new clothing division.
- JN Chamberlain: Seeking new footwear markets for its resin and microcellular rubber sheeting.
Training
- ARSUTORIA footwear and leather goods design courses.
World News
- A more thoughtful - realistic - approach to Made in America.
- Nine West reportedly edging closer to bankruptcy, could sell flagship label to Authentic Brands Group.
- Rare coalition bands together to fight Trump tariffs.
Advertisers in this Issue
Apeco (2), Chillisource/Shoepack (8, 9), Dangee Carken (OFC, 10), Katz Footwear (12), PMC Group (5), Source Africa (14), Tuftex (6).
Footwear Industry Articles
- National Leather and General Goods Strategy WorkshopOn 23 June, following months of fieldwork, B&M Analysts (BMA) hosted an online workshop to discuss the recovery of the handbags, belts, travel goods and allied manufacturing industries in SA.The industries, although very diverse, fall under the General Goods & Handbags Sector of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Indus ...moreWe could make sports shoes then, and I’m sure we could make them nowRetired shoemaker Brian Zyster shares more of his memories of ‘the good old days’ of footwear manufacturing in South Africa ...moreObituary: Joe McGinley, Conshu (14/04/1936-20/05/2026) He ran an empire, but kept a human touchSomerset West, W. Cape, SA – Joseph Pascal McGinley, the former Conshu director who died in May, a month after his 90th birthday, was a larger-than-life character who was renowned during his career in SA for his kindness, and who lived life to the full.Born in Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland, to Joseph and Madeline McGinley, both doct ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- ‘ESG is a global requirement’Deborah Taylor, Sustainable Leather FoundationShe spoke about the SLF’s role in supporting harmonisation and minimising duplication of effort across the leather value chain, its education and training, development of robust and credible standards, and advocacy of the leather industry.She quoted the first definition of sustainability ...moreDavid Buirski retires (but we’re sure to hear more from him)David Buirski, the former South African who edited World Leather from 1993 to 2005, and who continued his involvement with the publication and its offshoots until recently, has finally retired because “having turned 90 last December, I guess it was the sensible thing to do. Thirty-three years could be considered a long time.&rd ...moreMONEY FROM WASTEEurope has borne the difficulties and the costs of converting to a bioeconomy – the lessons are there, free, for African businesses to learn and profit from. ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- RealPPE Marketplace: Where safety meets smarter procurementRealPPE Marketplace is a 100% black women-owned B2B PPE marketplace built for South African industry. Founded after years of witnessing safety officers and procurement teams lose time to fragmented suppliers, inconsistent pricing, and missing documentation, RealPPE was created to bring structure and reliability to industrial PPE sourcing. ...moreThe legal ramifications: PPE and the law: Ignore at your peril?There’s no shortage of legislation covering employee safety in South Africa, but as in so much else, the enforcement is poor.In terms of our laws, the death of an employee (or anyone else) in a work situation, caused by negligence, is treated as culpable homicide. An injury caused by negligence is also a criminal act – that, b ...moreProactive or reactive? The importance of choosing the correct hand protectionOur 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 ...more











