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 ...moreMixed 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 ...moreThe 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. ...moreSkechers 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. ...moreBBF’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 ...moreObituary: 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 ...moreMizuno: New distributor plans increase in marketing, and diversification of sports categoriesJohannesburg, 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 ...moreAre 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 ...moreKnock out the knockoffs: Protecting your brand against imitationsCounterfeiting 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 ...moreWorld class manufacturing was an eye-opener and a lessonThis 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 ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- ‘Footwear and leather goods sectors show united front at R-CTFL Masterplan review’
The R-CTFL Masterplan is currently under review, and a strategic planning session was recently convened with all key stakeholders and representatives present.The footwear and leather contingent participated fully in the session. Representatives from the dtic’s Footwear and Leather sector desk, SAFLEC, SAFLIA, and organised labour, i ...moreNational 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 ...morePalm moves into sports sponsorship as terraPOD signs landmark contract with KZN women’s rugby
Durban, KZN, SA — Palm Footwear Manufacturers’ terraPOD safety footwear brand has upped its marketing campaign after signing a renewable, 1-year sponsorship agreement with the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union (KZNRU) to support the growth and development of women's amateur rugby across the province.Believed to be the first partnershi ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Mobilising 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 ...moreSA’s 2025 automotive leather exports: Down on 2024, but still good, on the face of it
Figures from NAAMSA’s Automotive Trade Manual 2026 Automotive components – exports by product Component category 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 % of total export value Ran ...moreFMD: Government upbeat, little comment from industryPretoria, 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
PPE Industry Articles
- The PPE Conference – PPE isn’t optional, it’s essential: A review
Leighton Bennett, the Safety First Association chairperson and a SHE and risk management consultantThe hosts of this first PPE Conference held in South Africa, were the Safety First Association and SAPEMA, on the 10 and 11 March 2026, at the Emperor’s Palace, in Kempton Park.This conference objectives were to provide a unique opport ...moreThe legal ramifications: PPE and the law: Ignore at your peril?
There’s no shortage of legislation covering employee safety in South Africa, but as in so much else, the enforcement is poor.In terms of our laws, the death of an employee (or anyone else) in a work situation, caused by negligence, is treated as culpable homicide. An injury caused by negligence is also a criminal act – that, b ...moreNew OHS regulations coming into force later this year mean PPE needs to be reviewed, too
In March 2025, the Physical Agents Regulations (and their guidelines) and the Noise Exposure Regulations (and their guidelines) of the OHSAct were published, with an 18-month time-period promulgation date to September 2026, allowing employers time to upgrade their Health & Safety requirements to comply with the new published regulatio ...more
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