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 ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- Julz Shoes launches men’s range
Sneaker and moccasin style samples from the men’s range.Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA – Women’s leather comfort/lifestyle brand Julz Shoes has launched a men’s collection under the brand Will’s Shoes.Both ranges are “locally designed, made offshore”, GM Hayley Barker said.“Julz has built a loy ...moreVermont sale completedJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA – After 39 years, former owner Mandy Owen has sold her shares in Vermont Leathercraft Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd to Creek Lab (Pty) Ltd, and officially handed over the business to Prashant Bhaga.In a message on LinkedIn, she wrote: “I would like to thank my husband, Graham, for his invaluable contributio ...more‘Growth in online gambling may be big factor in siphoning off disposable income’East London, E. Cape, SA – Trading conditions are constrained and steady. We need to focus on good quality products at reasonable prices / value. We are optimistic about the direction of the overall economy in RSA.As a wise man once said regarding growing a business: “Sometimes you have to move slowly to be able to move fast.& ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Sam Setter's 'Pills': TraceabilityThe EU Commission is very much engaged in bringing traceability of our raw materials to the forefront of tannery management. But let’s reflect on this for a moment. In the industrial world traceability is a fact, and particularly where food is involved, traceability is a standard requirement for trading. This is firstly to ensure fo ...moreMobilising Africa’s human resource to reinvigorate the regional leather value chain
In last month’s edition I wrote about mobilising Africa’s livestock to reinvigorate the regional leather value chain, and this article is focussed on mobilising the human resource that is needed to make the most of the abundant livestock populations in the region.On Friday 12th June, newly organised SARLEN (Southern African Re ...moreCooperation between SMEs, academia and government can find solutions
Dr Cecilia China, AfriTech Organic Leather Co. Ltd, the Nelson Mandela Institution of Science & Technology She said Africa has the hides and skins but lacks organised systems to convert them into competitive products.She described her interactions with the Kiwango Leather Cluster with the goal of producing high quality, eco-frien ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Understanding 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 ...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. ...moreSA's first PPE conference draws top speakers
The Safety First Association and SAPEMA hosted SA’s first PPE conference in March, cramming 20 papers into a 2-day event, which also featured a number of PPE supplier stands. Here, we carry edited versions of 7 of them to illustrate the diversity of the topics. We expect to carry more in the next edition.As several speakers pointed ...more
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