IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Headline
- News to be aware of.
03 Doing Things Differently
- Project Dyad: A leather goods manufacturer merging traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design. Answers from Jessika Balzer.
- Freedom of Movement: Aiming for a globally recognised South African lifestyle brand. Léan Boezaart explains.
08 Sector Reports
- Fashion: Tarzan has received its biggest export order to date, says John Olde-Oldhof.
- Safety footwear: Sisi launches first locally manufactured metaguard safety footwear style for women.
- Fashion: New distributor Crick opens first concept stores.
- Safety: Lemaitre focuses on comfort.
12 The U.S. Market
- NPD: The pricing conundrum.
- NPD: U.S. footwear industry growth rates look to be slow but steady through 2024.
15 Sustainability
- Texon develops new sustainable, biodegradable fashion material.
- Footwear remains biggest market for recycled PVC in SA.
- MICAM puts the focus on sustainability.
16 Fairs & Events
- Première Vision Paris: 'A successful edition marks the sector's revival, and rises to the challenges of tomorrow's fashions.'
- Messe München reorganises ISPO team.
Advertisers in this Issue
BBF Safety Group (OFC), Caterpillar / Medicus Footwear (08), Freestyle Genuine Handcrafted Leather (02), Italtan (03), JFK Trading/Jack Parcels (04), S&V Calendar (below), S&V Directory (11), Saddler Belts (08).
In The Next Issue:
- An explosion of crafters: What impact are they having on component suppliers, manufacturers and retailers?
Out on April 1
- Project Dyad: Merging traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design
Project Dyad, Leather goods manufacturer, was co-founded by Jessika Balzer and Vincent Urbain. In this issue, Jessika answers our questions. ...moreFreedom of Movement: Aiming for a globally recognised South African lifestyle brand
Freedom of Movement, clothing, footwear, leather goods, eyewear and timepiece brand sourced locally and imported, was co-founded by brothers Brothers Léan and Roal Boezaart. In this issue, Léan answers our questions. ...moreSebago: New distributor Crick opens first concept stores
Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA - Distribution of Sebago in southern Africa shifted to the Crick Group from Medicus at the beginning of 2022, in line with the change of ownership of the brand in 2017 from U.S.-based Wolverine World Wide to Italian company BasicNet S.p.A. ...moreTexon develops new sustainable, biodegradable fashion material
Texon Verde is green by name and nature and contains up to 90% bio-based content ...morePremière Vision Paris: 'A successful edition marks the sector’s revival, and rises to the challenges of tomorrow’s fashions'
Paris, France (17 February 2022) - Première Vision Paris, the trade show for the upstream global creative fashion industry, takes stock of its latest hybrid edition, which featured a trade show on 08-10 February at Paris Nord Villepinte and an online digital week hosted on its website from 07-11 February. ...moreMesse München reorganizes ISPO team
Munich, Germany (08 February 2022) - After ISPO Munich was moved to November 28 to 30 and OutDoor by ISPO to June 12 to 14, Messe München is now also reorganizing the ISPO Group team: Tobias Gröber, alongside his role as Director Business Unit Consumer Goods, will also be responsible again for the entire trade fair and online portfolio for the ISPO Group. ...moreTarzan: Biggest export order to date, and more to comeTulbagh, W. Cape, SA - Tarzan Shoes, about 120 km north east of Cape Town in an area better known for its wines, is also one of SA's rare band of consistent footwear exporters. ...moreLemaitre Safety Footwear: Focus on comfortPinetown, KZN, SA - As a BBF Safety Group product, Lemaitre Safety Footwear is driven by passion, dedication, pride and a commitment to high-quality products that keep those who build South Africa safe. For over 30 years, Lemaitre has continued to cater for all industries. Our hand-made safety shoes help the tough South African workforce to continue building a stronger nation step by step. ...moreThe Pricing ConundrumWith the COVID lifestyle in flux, pricing has taken on new importance this year. Consumer lifestyles have changed significantly over the past two years, and many of those changes will remain after the pandemic is behind us. Even as more consumers return to work, the pandemic lifestyle likely will not shift back entirely to pre-pandemic modes. ...moreUS footwear industry growth rates look to be slow but steady through 2024, says NPD28 February 2022 - Prices will continue to rise but at a more modest rate over the next two years, as more promotional activity resumes. ...moreFootwear remains biggest market for recycled PVCCape Town, W. Cape, SA (1 February 2022) - The Southern African Vinyls Association (SAVA) has welcomed the plastics recycling report for 2020 released by Plastics SA, indicating that the recycling of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) or vinyl products in South Africa recorded a year-on-year increase of 9.5 %. ...moreMICAM puts the focus on sustainabilityThe footwear trade fair goes green with a dedicated area, new certification mark, and a robust awareness-raising activity aimed at the footwear industry ...more
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Footwear Industry Articles
- Historical highlights: How Rockshoes became Trailmix Trading
Rockshoes was one of the many successful footwear factories in Pinetown in the 1960s through to the early 2000s. Its successor, Trailmix Trading, has repeated that success, as an importer and wholesaler. Here’s how it unfolded. ...moreA 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 ...more2026 Comrades shoe count: Asics stays top, Adidas up, Nike slides into 4th place
Marathon 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 ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Organic cotton at the crossroads: Ideology, evidence, and the road ahead
Washington, DC, U.S.A. (23 June 2026) — Organic cotton occupies one of the most contentious spaces in global agriculture. While praised by brands and consumers for its environmental ideals, it also faces persistent questions about yield stability, certification integrity, and scalability. The current edition of The ICAC Recorde ...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. ...moreThe leather value chain offers opportunities for all SADC countriesThe Southern African Regional Leather Network (SARLEN) and the SADC Leather Forum present a great opportunity for the development of the leather value chains (LVCs) in all or most SADC states, whose LVCs are at different stages of development.in Zimbabwe we already have a well-structured LVC coordinated by an apex body, the Zimbabwe Leath ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Indoor air quality monitoring: protecting people, processes, and productivity in South Africa
Indoor 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 ...moreRealPPE Marketplace: Where safety meets smarter procurement
RealPPE 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. ...moreFurther controls over the import of safety footwear are on the wayOn 03 August 2026, the Safety Footwear Working Group, led by SAFLIA, submitted a request to Minister Tau (dtic) for interim import control measures in respect of specified safety footwear. The request was strongly supported by organised labour and other industry stakeholders.The application was further strengthened by contributions f ...more
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