S&V Footwear & Leather Goods Magazine Vol87 No4 April 2021
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IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Opinion - IP: Where do rights end and greed begin?
- 'Satan' shoes: Nike vs MSCHF.
- Air Force 1 USPS: U.S. Postal Service vs Nike.
- The value of sneakers as collectibles.
06 The U.S. Market
- Strong recovery for apparel and restaurants.
- Sneakernomics: Let's talk about walking shoes as a category, suggests Matt Powell
07 Technology
- Texon launches ProWeave as a "unique weaving technology" with applications in footwear and PPE.
09 Trade Fairs
- IFEMA: Spanish fair organiser says hybrid events will lead to significant growth.
10 Notice Board
- Looking back: Mussa Hajat of Footwear Centre, Malawi.
- Obituary: Marco Di Lembo, Villani Shoes.
- Obituary: Brian Wallis, BU, Newtech, Shoetech and Safety-Boyz.
Advertisers in this Issue
BBF Safety Group (OFC), Creative Leathergoods (8), Deluxe Footwear (6), Freestyle (3), Saddler Belts (7), Shoepack (4).
In The Next Issue:
- Industrial Footwear.
Out on May 12
We've revamped our trade fair calendar. Visit https://www.svmag.co.za/events
- 'Satan Shoes' to be recalled as Nike agrees to settle lawsuitBBC, April 09, 2021 - Nike says the art collective which made "Satan Shoes" that purportedly contain a drop of human blood in the soles has agreed to issue a voluntary recall as part of a legal settlement. The $1,018 (£740) trainers are modified Nike Air Max 97s. Only 666 pairs were made and all but one have been shipped. ...more'The Nike Air Force 1 USPS' Experimental shoe is neither licensed nor otherwise authorized by the U.S. Postal Service(April 1, 2021) - The Postal Service, which receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations, protects its intellectual property. Officially licensed products sold in the marketplace expand the affinity for the Postal Service brand and provide incremental revenu ...moreThe value of sneakers as collectiblesThe reasoning behind MSCHF's launch was that some branded sneakers have become popular as collectibles. Another BBC story, on April 16, was headlined "Kanye West's $1m Yeezy shoes are 'most valuable to go on auction'." Extracts from that article included these gems: In recent years, sneakers have gained the same collectable stat ...moreProWeave: 'A step forward in woven technology' for shoes and PPE, says TexonPrato, Italy - Texon, bust known to the footwear industry as a cellulose insole board manufacturer, has launched "a unique, patented, jacquard weaving technology", branded ProWeave, which will allow customers to custom design fabric which is then made by Texon. Texon says it has applications for the footwear, apparel, fashion an ...moreIFEMA: Spanish fair organiser says hybrid events will lead to significant growthMadrid, Spain (April 13, 2021) - Spanish trade fair organiser IFEMA Madrid, which includes the twice-yearly Momad shoe fairs in its portfolio of over 50 fairs, says digital platforms and services and the hybridisation of its fairs will add 30% to current turnover over the next 3 years, adding more than €40 million in revenue. L ...moreA proud moment: Looking back: Mussa Hajat, Footwear CentreBlantyre, Malawi - Mussa Hajat, founder of Footwear Centre, is pictured above receiving an Omega watch from Bata Rhodesia MD, Dr Fiksel, at Bata's head office in Gwelo, in 1957. He started work with Bata in 1950 as a salesman in Bata's Blantyre shop, and rose to become sales manager of all Bata's retail shops in Nyasaland. He finally left ...moreThe life and soul of Villani - Obituary: Marco Di Lembo - Villani Shoes (30/07/1973-06/04/2021)Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA - Marco Di Lembo, the owner of Villani Shoes, died tragically on April 06, aged 47. Born in Johannesburg to Michele and Rosella Di Lembo, he went to Robertsham Primary Junior School before progressing to Sir John Adamson High School. While in high school, Marco matured and earned academic distinctions and partici ...moreItalian shoe machinery expert - Obituary: Brian Wallis - BU, Newtech, Shoetech and Safety-Boyz (16/10/1945-09/04/2021)Durban, KZN, SA - Shoe machinery expert Brian Wallis died unexpectedly on April 09, aged 75. Born and raised in Port Elizabeth, he entered the footwear industry in his early 20s when he joined British United, at that time by far the dominant force in footwear machinery in SA, where he trained as a machinery technician. There he also met h ...moreStrong recovery for apparel and restaurantsExtract from Shop-Eat-Surf, April 15, 2021- The federal government’s monthly retail numbers released Thursday morning backup what we have been hearing anecdotally from industry retailers and brands: consumers opened their wallets in a big way in March.U.S. retail sales grew 9.8% in March compared to the previous month. And most inte ...moreLet's talk about walking shoesWe all know about the running shoe boom. More people are running, trying to stay healthy while also remaining socially distant. Sales of running shoes are up compared to a year ago. I’m firmly convinced we’ll see running shoes return as street wear, something we have not seen in over 8 years. But there is a related trend that ...more
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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 ...more2026 Comrades shoe count: Asics stays top, Adidas up, Nike slides into 4th placeMarathon shoe counts are among the few footwear statistics available in SA. The Sweat Shop’s Jax Snyman has extracted this year’s Comrades Marathon figures for comparison with last year.His assessment: “Asics up. Adidas properly up. New Balance steady although now 3rd largest. Nike down and drop in rankings to 4th. Sauco ...moreSAFLEC AGM 2026: A year marked by resilienceOn behalf of the Board of Directors, it is my pleasure to welcome all our members and stakeholders to the 24th Annual General Meeting of the South African Leather & Footwear Export Council (SAFLEC).The Annual General Meeting provides us with an opportunity not only to reflect on the performance of the Council over the past financial y ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- ISTT offers free entry level leather course to encourage trainingGrahamstown, E. Cape, SA – The International School of Tanning Technology (ISTT) is offering one of its short online courses, Introduction to the Leather Industry, for free.The course is suitable for entry level tannery staff.It is also suitable for anyone in footwear, leather goods, furniture and upholstery manufacturing, retailing ...moreFifteen million sheep in the UK to share among shearersAccording to the UK government, its sheep population decreased over the past year by 1.7% but that still leaves a flock of over 30 million. For comparison, the domestic flock in South Africa numbers about 21 million and New Zealand has some 23 million. Australia, with more than 70 million, has a wool clip of approximately 325,000 tonnes. ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Global stage for occupational safety innovations: exhibitor registration for A+A 2027 has begunDüsseldorf, Germany – The next A+A fair will be held from 19 to 22 October 2027.Since 16 June 2026 exhibitors have been able to register for A+A 2027. Companies and organisations from around the world are invited to introduce their innovations and solutions for safety and health at work and sustainable prevention to an int ...moreRealPPE 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. ...moreIndoor air quality monitoring: protecting people, processes, and productivity in South AfricaIndoor air quality (IAQ) is becoming an increasingly important topic across South Africa as industries place greater focus on occupational safety, environmental controls, and operational reliability. While air quality concerns were once mainly associated with mining, heavy industry, or healthcare environments, businesses across multiple s ...more
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