Newsletter No. 12                                                             5 April 2019

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African Fashion International (AFI) a major sponsor for Condè Nast International Luxury conference

African Fashion International (AFI) is pleased to announce that it has concluded a sponsorship deal as major partner of the Condè Nast International Luxury Conference to be held in Cape Town this year.

The CNI Luxury Conference kicks off on the 9th until the 11th of April. The last day of the conference coincides with the opening of AFI Cape Town Fashion Week which is scheduled to take place from the 11th to the 13th of April 2019.

For over a decade, AFI has propelled many African designers to local and global recognition and has created platforms for the designers to showcase their collections in a globally relevant manner. Through the CNI Luxury Conference sponsorship, AFI aims to leverage this prestigious platform for the benefit of some of the best designers from the African continent and to create learning, networking and possible commercial opportunities for local designers whose creativity and craftsmanship is world class and brings unique perspective to the fashion world.

The Condé Nast International Luxury Conference is a premier business industry event, which attracts business leaders and influencers within the luxury industry from over 30 countries. The event is the first conference of its type to take place in South Africa, and will be hosted by curator of the event, Vogue International Editor, Suzy Menkes.

This gathering allows AFI stakeholders to engage with decision-makers, innovators, entrepreneurs and creative leaders from around the world. This gives AFI an opportunity to also showcase our beautiful mother city, Cape Town, voted one of the most beautiful cities in the world and to showcase its hospitable people. The tourism industry stands to benefit from this conference.

AFI’s association with the conference is motivated by AFI’s mission to promote African fashion brands, content and perspectives. Part of achieving AFI’s mission is to build relationships with globally influential leaders, to leverage the connections for the benefit of African creatives.

“This collaboration is a wonderful chance for AFI to further advance African designers, and boost the local industry, to the most respected and relevant global platforms,” said, Founder and CEO of AFI, Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe.

“The African continent holds the world’s largest millennial consumer population and fastest-growing middle class. The decision to host this annual conference in Cape Town concedes this abundance of opportunity: Africa represents an enormous commercial opportunity for international luxury brands, as a source of homegrown creativity, craftsmanship and luxury materials. AFI aims to ensure that our designers have prospects for networking, utilising their home-ground advantage,” says Moloi-Motsepe.

Under the theme “The Nature of Luxury”, the CNI Luxury Conference will explore topics such as: sustainable business models and conscious consumerism; African opportunities; retail success strategies; and the ongoing intersection of luxury and technology.

Headline speakers at the leading business conference for the luxury and fashion industry include Marco Bizzarri, CEO, Gucci; Alessandro Bogliolo, CEO, Tiffany & Co.; Micaela le Divelec Lemmi, CEO, Salvatore Ferragamo; Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, Chairman and Founder, Graff; Laduma Ngxokolo, Designer, MAXHOSA BY LADUMA; Folake Coker, Founder and Creative Director, Tiffany Amber; Susan Akkad, Senior Vice President, Local and Cultural Innovation, The Estée Lauder Companies; Sylvie Bénard, Environment Director, LVMH. The conference is curated and hosted by Suzy Menkes, Editor, Vogue International. Jo-Ann Strauss will act as Master of Ceremonies. AFI

The University of Maryland creates a heat-regulating fabric

A smart fabric capable of heating our body when it is cold but also cooling it down when it is hot? As surprising as it may seem, this is the tremendous innovation revealed at the start of the year by American scientists from the University of Maryland.

What if dressing according to the temperature of the surrounding environment became obsolete? The idea may seem utopian but it could well and truly be on the point of becoming a reality, if an article in the journal Science is to be believed, which highlights the feat achieved by American academics: a fabric capable of reacting to our body’s temperature changes.

A bidirectional regulating fabric

Composed of polymer fibres covered in carbon nanotubes, the strands of yarn in this extraordinary fabric retract or dilate according to variations in heat. So, when the skin sweats, they become thinner to allow the infrared radiation given off by the body to pass through. On the contrary, when the body cools down, the yarn becomes thicker to keep heat inside. An instant transformation that the person wearing the garment in question cannot even detect. “The human body is a perfect radiator. It gives off heat quickly,” stated researcher Min Ouyang, a professor of physics at UMD and co-author of the article. “For all of history, the only way to regulate the radiator has been to take clothes off or put clothes on. But this fabric is a true bidirectional regulator.”

A host of textile applications

A technical revolution of this kind opens the door to a host of applications. The first and most obvious is without a doubt sports ready-to-wear. In fact, this invention is reminiscent of the one marketed by Reebok, the kit supplier having recently revealed a bra that tightens or relaxes depending on its wearer’s movements. Its secret? A gel with a changing texture incorporated directly into the fabric. The scientists are also planning to extend their invention to the conventional ready-to-wear sector, as well as the household linen domain, with sheets that are able to adapt to our level of heat. A comfortable night guaranteed. Promostyl

 South African Fashion Week

Distinctive craftmanship and bespoke detailing will be the order of the day at South African Fashion Week’s (SAFW) Spring/Summer 2019 Luxury Collections in Johannesburg this year. Announcing the line-up for the four-day event in April, the 21-year old business-to-business platform reiterated its single-minded commitment to promoting a world-class African design ethos and industry across the continent.

Equally important is the bi-annual SAFW Trade Show that will run parallel to the runway collections and will showcase fifty carefully curated women- and menswear, jewellery, millinery and accessory ranges.

The SAFW Spring/Summer 2019 Luxury Collections and Trade Show will be staged at the Protea Court Rooftop, Sandton City Shopping Centre from Wednesday 3 – Saturday 6 April 2019. The SAFW Trade Show will be open daily from 14h00 – 19h00. Tickets are selling between R100 to R175 and will be available from 1 March 2019, from Computicket. www.safashionweek.co.za www.computicket.com

SACTWU Submits 2019 Wage Demands

The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing & textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has submitted its 2019 wage demands to employers, for those sectors for which the union is negotiating this year.

This follows on the union’s 2019 National Wage Mandating Meeting held on 7-9 March 2019, in Durban, which was attended by 160 shop stewards from all parts of the country, and where our national wage demands for this year were consolidated.

The demands were submitted to our employer counterparts between 14 and 18 March this year.

The sectors for which we are negotiating this year includes the following:   Footwear, Tanning, General Goods and Handbags (GGH), Sheltered Employment Enterprises (SEE) and Distribution Retail.

Most of the wage increases for these sectors are due between April and July this year.

Our demands include an average of 15% wage increase, improvements in employer retirement fund contributions, a 40-hour work week without loss of pay, local procurement promotion, and stronger organisational rights such as improved paid time-off for shop steward trade union duties, and the permanent employment of all contract workers.

Negotiations are expected to commence with effect from the end of March 2019.

Issued by Andre Kriel SACTWU General Secretary

If further information is required, kindly contact SACTWU’s National Collective Bargaining Officer, Mr Vilina Membinkosi, on cell number 081 585 3798 or office number 031 3011351.

Did you know……..

Baby boys used to wear dresses until they were aged 5-6, but this stopped in 1910 due to changes in fashion.

In 1946, the bikini was invented, but it was banned in several countries, including Italy, after the Vatican said it was a sin.