How faster fashion is breathing new life into SA’s clothing and textile industry
After a torrid recent history, the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear manufacturing sector has somewhat stabilised and is showing signs of recovery. The tumult came about with the end of apartheid, the globalisation of trade, and tariffs in the sector dropping significantly. The total sector investment was more than R1.5bn in 2015 alone, with close to 90,000 people formally employed. That number had been declining for the previous 12 years, but 2015 was the first year of improvement with an increase of more than 1,000 jobs on the manufacturing side. However, it is retailing that is driving the sector’s development, which is itself driven by the consumer and the concept of "fast fashion". When SA went through a downturn, starting from the mid-1990s, investment in the sector dried up, so even for existing manufacturers, business became about survival. They didn’t have spare cash to put into equipment and infrastructure. In a way, the sector had to reach rock bottom before being ...
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