Publisher of leading trade magazines for the Footwear, Leather-goods, Leather & PPE industries

S&V Footwear & Leather Goods Magazine Vol91 No10 October 2025

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IN THIS ISSUE:

03 Upfront
- Mizuno: New distributor plans to increase marketing, and diversification of sports categories.
- Tifosi Sports: Moving on after On.
- Mixed messages from Deckers Brands’ results.

07 School Shoes
- The basic that must be comfortable, last for a long time, and cost very little. Palm Footwear’s Rajeev Pattundeen explains how.

10 Insights by Tinashe Mandirahwe
- Are big shoe brands holding back better shoes?
- Skechers goes private amid rising tariffs.

14 Brand Protection
- In the first of a series, Strauss Daly Attorneys discusses protecting brands against imitations.

16 Noticeboard
- Appointment: BBF’s Ndlela Mazibuko will focus on customers.
- The Life of Brian: Back in the day: When overseas travel was a real trip. World class manufacturing was an eye-opener and a lesson, writes Brian Zyster.
- Obituary: Miles O’Brien, Sportshoe and Jordan Shoes – Some See the Crescent, He Saw the Whole of the Moon, by Nick Bryant.

21 Statistics
- Preliminary trade statistics August 2025



Advertisers in this Issue
Arena Trims (15), East Asian Import & Export (09), Freestyle Genuine Handcrafted Leather (02), Haesloop Agencies (17), Kaytex Belts (11), Leather Finishing Products (13), Palm Footwear/Trustees (OFC), Saddler Belts (06), SAFLEC (16), S&V Calendar (01), S&V Directory (10), Shotland Packaging (20), Vandan Engineering (05).



  • Tifosi Sports: Moving on after On
    Randburg, Gauteng, SA – Tifosi Sports “will be looking to establish a relationship with a meaningful international sports brand” when Swiss running shoe brand On moves to a new distributor in January, CEO Nick Zografos said last week. “We’re in discussions with a number of them.”Tifosi Sports has repres ...more
  • Mixed messages from Deckers Brands results
    Goleta, California, USA (23 October 2025) – Hoka grew by 11.1% to US$634.1 million and Ugg grew by 10.1% to $759.6 million in Deckers Brands’ second fiscal quarter ended 30 September, the company announced.Sales of its ‘other brands’, now mainly Teva and Ahnu following the phase-out of its Koolaburra operations, de ...more
  • The basic that must be comfortable, last for a long time, and cost very little
    This is the peak season for retailers to stock school shoes, the unglamorous staple which underpins so much of the SA footwear industry. Palm Footwear is one of the most successful school shoe suppliers, and here MD Rajeev Pattundeen answers our questions about what consumers expect and retailers need from this category, and what the future holds. ...more
  • Skechers goes private amid rising tariffs
    As U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports climb to 125%, Skechers is stepping away from public markets to rethink its strategy. ...more
  • BBF’s Ndlela Mazibuko: Focusing on customers
    Pinetown, KZN, SA – BBF Safety Group has appointed Ndlela Mazibuko as MD, effective 1 November 2025. He will work alongside the BBF Safety Group CEO, Brian Kuhnert, and the Beier Group CEO, Warren Sachs, in growing the customer centric focus of the business.In a release, BBF wrote:A seasoned industrialist and inclusive leader, Ndle ...more
  • Obituary: Miles O’Brien – Sportshoe, Jordan Shoes (08/02/1950-26/10/2025) Some See the Crescent, He Saw the Whole of the Moon
    Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – Miles O’Brien went to Progress College in Rondebosch and studied marketing at Cape Technikon. His first job was at Standard Bank in Plumstead for a short period of time, then onto the City Tramways for 10 years.Sportshoe was owned by Benny Stoltzman (who also owned Vogue Shoes) who had the agency for A ...more
  • Mizuno: New distributor plans increase in marketing, and diversification of sports categories
    Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – Digital Wellness has been appointed by Mizuno Europe as the new Mizuno Footwear distributor for Southern Africa.It was previously distributed by Performance Endurance Solutions.Brian Kerby will continue with the brand, filling the role of Mizuno Brand Manager. He and Digital Wellness MD Ricky West respond ...more
  • Are big shoe brands holding back better shoes?
    On the 28 June 2025 episode of The Energy Blueprint Podcast, Xero Shoes co-founder Steven Sashen made a striking claim: a major sports brand secretly tested a more natural shoe that cut injury rates by half compared to their top-selling model — and then shelved it.A more natural shoe, as Sashen describes, is desi ...more
  • Knock out the knockoffs: Protecting your brand against imitations
    Counterfeiting is no longer confined to imitation designer goods sold in back-alley markets. It has become a widespread and organised trade that threatens fair competition and the rights of legitimate businesses. At its simplest, counterfeiting means the deliberate manufacture and sale of goods calculated to resemble genuine branded produ ...more
  • World class manufacturing was an eye-opener and a lesson
    This is my last contribution to this series of events. I have thoroughly enjoyed stepping back into the days when travelling to find new designs was real travel.My final contribution is to say that with all that happened there were a lot of positives also achieved. I managed to visit some international manufacturing facilit ...more

Footwear Industry Articles

  • National Leather and General Goods Strategy Workshop
    On 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 ...more
  • Vermont sale completed
    Johannesburg, 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
  • We could make sports shoes then, and I’m sure we could make them now
    Retired shoemaker Brian Zyster shares more of his memories of ‘the good old days’ of footwear manufacturing in South Africa ...more
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Leather Industry Articles

  • FMD: Government upbeat, little comment from industry
    Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – The Department of Agriculture’s “strategic objective” is to vaccinate 80% of South Africa’s national cattle herd – which is around 14 million animals – against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) by December this year, according to a media statement on 12 May.“The vaccinatio ...more
  • SARLEN aims for business and regulatory advocacy for the leather value chain across SADC
    The formation of the Southern African Regional Leather Network (SARLEN) is a process to formalise a voice for commercial, entrepreneurial and developmental associations in the leather value chain (LVC) for the region.The leather value chain has been recognised in SADC as a key entrepreneurial opportunity that can adjust to the scale of th ...more
  • Sam Setter's 'Pills': Congratulations!
    Congratulations and compliments to UNIC and COTANCE for the huge job they have done together with LCHA, AHSLEA, Beef & Lamb New Zealand, TDSD, CICB, ALLPI, ICT, ICHSLTA, ICEC and SLF as well as many others by convincing the EU to scrap bovine hides from the EUDR directive. A long and tiring process which has cost them lots of time and ...more
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PPE Industry Articles

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