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WGSN Trend forecasts and AGOA a major focus for the 2019 Source Africa and ATF/CPT Expo seminar sessions

In exactly one week, Source Africa & ATF/CPT Expo (International Apparel, Textile and Footwear trade exhibition) welcomes over 300 exhibiting companies, from 18 different countries. The three co-located events will feature high-quality seminar sessions, trend talks and trend forums by WGSN and 15 fashion shows showcasing the latest designs.

Taking place from 12-14 June 2019 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the event attracts buyers, sourcing managers, technologists and retailers across the clothing and textiles sector to benefit and learn from each other through interactive discussions and networking opportunities. With a stellar line-up of industry influencers and a variety of local and international exhibitors, visitors are kept up-to-date with the latest trends, cansource new suppliers and sustainable textiles as well as engage with trend specialists.

Fashion shows take place alongside the exhibition which will present manufacturers and suppliers from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Lesotho, Mauritius and Frankfurt.

“The collocation of Source Africa and ATF Expo firmly solidifies our show as the largest textile event on the African continent. There are no other events which showcase as many local and international exhibitors to interested buyers. The 2019 event promises to be an informative, jam packed 3-day event and we are very glad to report that this year’s event is larger than the 2018 event with over 3500 sqm in exhibition space and more than 300 exhibitors from 18 different countries,” says Kathryn Frew, Portfolio Director at Messe Frankfurt South Africa.

Expect seminar sessions from the editor of fashion and beauty of WGSN, Polly Walters, who will be predicting the ‘Menswear and Womenswear trends of tomorrow’. WGSN Fashion helps the world’s largest retailers, brands and manufacturers lead with confidence. Long-term consumer trends, new and breaking trends as well as global street style images will be featured during these sessions. Find out more about this seminar session on day 1 & 2 of Source Africa & ATF/CPT Expo.

‘The Rebirth of Cotton’ will be discussed by Dr. Annette Bennett, Technology manager of Cotton SA. This seminar session highlights the goals for the industry, as Cotton SA wants to increase the local beneficiation of cotton. This will lead to the creation of more than 75 000 new jobs and an injection of almost R10 billion into the economy.

Included in the seminar programme is a panel discussion focusing on AGOA (The African Growth and Opportunity Act) where each panelist will discuss their view of the value offered by the AGOA act to their specific country. With China being the US largest trading partner in textiles and apparel, what impact will the recent trade war have on this and what opportunities may open up for other potential suppliers to the US? What is the take of US brands and US Government on trade between US and Africa in textiles and apparel post 2025?

The panelists include AGOA beneficiaries such as Mauritius and Lesotho together with AAFA giving the US buyer’s perspective and USTR representative who will give the perspective of US Government. The panel discussion will be chaired by the Hub COP, Jim Winkler. The panel discussion is scheduled for 13 June running from 12:30-13:15 on the ATF stage.

Other speakers confirmed for the 2019 event includes; CEO of Imprint Luxury – Cyril Naicker who will address ‘Sustainable Fashion – clothing with a conscience’ in a panel discussion together with Clay Hickson – Senior Vice President Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), Kim and Natalie Ellis – Founders – The Joinery and Jackie May – Founder Twyg. Whilst, Adine Gericke – Lecturer and Coordinator of the Programme in Textile and Polymer Science at the University of Stellenbosch will deliver ‘Technology Driving Fashion – the role of technology to ensure thermo-physiological comfort in sports and leisure-wear’.

The Source Africa Young Designer Competition, launched in 2018 with great success. This year, the competition has expanded and will showcase twenty curated finalists over two days. The overall winner walks away with prizes valued at over R85 000 including an opportunity to showcase his/her designs at Texworld Paris.

The seminar programme is open to all exhibitors and visitors, to find out which expert speakers you would like to learn from, please visit sourceafrica.co.za and atfexpo.co.za, and diarise the sessions most applicable to your line of work.

Mr Price becomes first retailer to list on A2X

Mr Price Group has been approved for a secondary listing on A2X Markets and its shares will be available for trade on A2X from 2 May 2019.

Mr Price retains its listings on the JSE and its issued share capital will be unaffected by its secondary listing on A2X. There is no cost, risk, or additional regulatory compliance for Mr Price as a result of its secondary listing.

The Chief Executive of Mr Price Mark Blair said, “At Mr Price, one of our core values is partnership and it is part of our philosophy to share the ownership and success of our company. We have a long history of delivering value to our shareholders and we see this secondary listing as an opportunity to continue that trend. Listing on A2X markets gives more choice to our current investors and opens up opportunity for us to attract potential new investors”.

“We are pleased to welcome Mr Price to the growing list of companies on A2X. The first retail company listing is an important milestone for A2X as we continue to attract listed companies from across various sectors. We look forward to demonstrating the benefits that effective competition in the secondary share market will bring to Mr Price’s investors,” said A2X Chief Executive Kevin Brady.

Mr Price’s listing will bring the number of securities available for trade on A2X to 20 with a combined market capitalisation of over R2.4 trillion. A2X boasts listings from many key sectors, including media, mining, banking, property, FMCG, financial services, insurance, healthcare and telecommunications.

A2X is a licensed stock exchange which provides a secondary listing venue for companies. It is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the Prudential Authority (SARB) in terms of the Financial Markets Act. A2X began trading in October 2017 and has nine approved brokers that account for about 50 percent of market activity. African Retail

Cameroon bans azo dyes in textile manufacturing

The Central African country of Cameroon has banned the use of five chemicals in textile manufacturing in the country. The banned chemicals are azo dyes, formaldehyde, alkyl phenol, phthalates, and heavy metals that have a negative impact on both the environment and consumer health, Cameroonian ministry of mines, industry and technological development said.

“The distribution of non-compliant products … is therefore prohibited throughout the national territory. Any offender to this regulation will face sanctions provided for by the law in force,” Gabriel Dodo Ndocke, minister of mines, industry and technological development said, according to Cameroonian media reports.

The minister said that the ban is in line with Cameroonian standards, specifically those related to loincloths and household linens. He urged textile processing and manufacturing companies, importers and retailers to comply with the decision. F2F

The UNO Sewing EXPO – 2019

Congratulations Uno, congratulations Mark, congratulations to the Chen family, and more and more congratulations reverberated on the opening day at the Uno Sewing Machine Expo, at it’s 30^th.year celebrations. These were the words from our visitors from the Foschini, Woolworths, Truworths, Edgars, Mr. Price, Street Sheet, and Pick ‘n Pay’s apparel and linen manufactures, from all over South Africa, as well as the visitors from Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and as far as Ethiopia. Our principle suppliers from Taiwan and China celebrated with us, our bankers from the Bank of China, Taiwan and Standard Bank celebrated with us and an accolade was honoured to us; as well as our Government officials from the departments of Labour, RD&LR and Higher Education, were all in attendance at our head office in Johannesburg, who celebrated from May 28 to 30, 2019.

Our special thanks and deep gratitude goes to every one of our visitors to our Expo. Our management also thanks to Mr. Clinton Clarke, an executive from TFG’s manufacturing division, Prestige Clothing for his special contribution as well as his special gift to honour Uno’s service excellence for the past 5 years ,and a special thanks to Mr. Herman Pillay, chairman of TCI Apparel, the biggest clothing manufacturer in South Africa, for their encouraging words of well wishes.

A show stopper was the automatic template sewing work station, because of the machine’s versatility. The machine takes much skill out of the operators handling. It is constant in cycle performance, quality, and consistency in finishes each time. Template sewing machines can replace and do the work of many fixed cycle machines. A template sewing machine can be your: run stitch machine, jet pocket machine, pocket setter, quilting machine, fly front machine, cuff & gauntlet machine, and so on and so on.

However, if you missed the opportunity, please visit our U-Tube link and you too will be introduced to Uno Sewing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M45NKqnpDE8&feature=youtube  Yes, as many others were, you may too be surprised why we are Uno (in French), it’s translated as Number 1. With a staff of over 60 people, a trading floor of over 6000 square meters, a stock holding of thousands of sewing machines, and over 30000 spare part items in our after sales service centre, and a fleet to roll out your order, at your ‘beck ‘n call’. With our distribution centres spread out in Johannesburg, Newcastle, and Durban, and coming soon in Cape Town, we making sure our service excellence is achieved coverage all over Southern Africa.

Please visits us on www.unosewing.co.za for more info on our products, expo related news and technical advances. Also, visit us at our branch showrooms or email sales@unosewing.co.za ,for a stitch above the best, on all your sewing needs.

Did you know……..

The beret comes from France and is a popular fashion item as well as being a part of certain military uniforms.

In the original Cinderella story, the glass slippers did not exist. Instead, her shoes were made out of fur, but the story was changed in the 1600’s and included the new and now-famous glass slippers.

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