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
- An industry with distinctive material riches, unable to sufficiently convert them into finished goods in a world class way“The project’s purpose,” said Courtney Grant, “is to be a robust, evidence-based strategy to address the leather and general goods sector’s challenges and unlock its growth potential.”The main headings of her presentation were:Creating the groundwork for a National Leather and General Goods Strategy:Fro ...moreNike claims ‘mental benefits’ from new styles, observers take wait-and-see approach
Nike makes big technical claims for a category of non-sport footwear (their description: pre-game and post-game) launched in January.Certainly not the first footwear to incorporate underfoot pressure points, ‘Nike Mind Technology’ is 2 shoes – a mule and a sneaker (in different colour options) – which Nike says lit ...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 ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Fifteen 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. ...moreSADC Leather Forum unites 16 member states to strengthen the regional leather industry
The Southern African Development Community’s Regional Leather Forum met in Durban, South Africa, in August. Nerisha Jairaj and Jacob Nyathi explain different aspects. ...more‘FMD is here to stay – we have to learn to live with it and manage it’
Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – FMD is no longer a series of isolated outbreaks; it has become a national systemic risk, and we need to shift our mindset from emergency response to living with and managing FMD responsibly. The pressure is already showing in the numbers. Our latest figures show cattle slaughter down 12% and sheep slaughter d ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- RealPPE 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. ...moreGlobal stage for occupational safety innovations: exhibitor registration for A+A 2027 has begun
Düsseldorf, 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. ...more
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