Newsletter No.04     10 February 2017

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The 2017 Durban Fashion Fair Mentorship: And the Designers are……

As part of the Fashion Development Programme which is proudly supported by eThekwini Municipality, the journey for 2017 kicked off with the showcasing of talented designer creations in the hope of securing a place on the catwalk during the fashion week, at the Durban Fashion Fair which takes place in August.

Recently, the Municipality put out a notice to invite designers to participate in the annual Fashion Mentorship Programme which teaches and guides designers all about the business of fashion and grooms them for the fashion week.

The standard each year gets higher and higher as each designer submits their proposal and creations motivating why they should be selected for this “once in a lifetime” programme.

The Business Support, Tourism and Markets Unit that manages this programme, received a number of applications from within the eThekwini Municipality area and was followed by an intensive interview process and much deliberation amongst the judges. In the end, only 20 students could be selected out of the number of talented designers who were interviewed.

Congratulations to the following successful mentorship designers: Delisile Monica, Fezeka Mtshengu, Khonokuhle Mthembu, Sindi Majola,  Ayanda Mngadi, Athenkosi Mfungula, Bongekile Sondezi, Casey Hutchinson, Cheryl Jafta, Claudia Novuka, Leona Pillay,  Mandisa Dladla,  Nduduzo Mgobhozi, Nivadni Sewinath, Nozimanga Mbatha, Ntokozo Buthelezi, Tessa van Rensburg, Wanda Majubana, Yanela Mtolo, Nishithi Sewnath

My Newsroom

New boss vows to overhaul Edcon

The newly appointed chairman of Edcon said the retailer was too important to fail and would be turned around. Gareth Penny, who took up the position on Wednesday, said he was “confident we can continue to make progress in recreating a world-class retailer”.

Penny, the former group CEO of De Beers, said Edcon, which is the largest clothing retailer in SA, had 45,000 employees, 9-million registered customers and was a major player in local malls.

“It will be got right,” said Penny, who during his tenure at De Beers was instrumental in reshaping the world’s largest diamond company.

The other board members are Bernie Brookes, Rhidwaan Gasant, Daphne Motsepe, Marti Murray, Grant Pattison and Keith Warburton. Brookes, who is CEO, is the only executive of the relatively small board.

Former Massmart CEO Pattison is the only nonexecutive with any significant retail experience, although it did not involve much exposure to clothing. Walmart has failed to make inroads in the local clothing market with Makro and Game failing to crack the market.

Analysts were generally unimpressed by the list of new directors. “It looks as though Bernie [Brookes] doesn’t want to be challenged,” said Sasfin analyst Alec Abraham.

But Penny said Pattison and Brookes had good hands-on retail experience and as a former chief financial officer of Clicks, Warburton would provide good financial back-up.

He said Motsepe, who is a former Absa executive, and Gasant, who is CEO of Rapid African Energy Holdings, would bring important perspectives to the board. Murray, an American and along with Brookes the only non-South African on the board, “has great experience in dealing with corporate challenges”.

Penny said former Edcon CEO Steve Ross and former Woolworths top executive Andrew Jennings, who had been touted as candidates for the role of chairman, would play an advisory role to the company.

Jennings, who is South African, worked in Australia as a consultant for Brookes in his largely successful efforts to turn around leading Australian group Meyers.

The previous Edcon board also had limited retail experience and was dominated by bankers with a sprinkling of miners. As well as diamond retailing, Penny’s experience includes mining and banking.

Penny said Brookes had done a good job since he took over in October 2015. “We’ve made progress but there is still a significant period ahead.”

Business Day

EFI Reggiani

With more than 60 years of innovation, research, and technological excellence, EFI Reggiani (which includes the Reggiani Machine, Mezzera, and Jaeggli brands) is a worldwide provider of complete solutions for the textile market, with a focus on the development of sustainable processes. With the high quality and performance of its machines and outstanding service to its customers, today EFI Reggiani is the premiere manufacturer of traditional digital printing machines and pre-post treatment machines (such as washing systems, bleaching, dyeing, etc.).

EFI Reggiani delivers an overall solution for the whole textile process, starting from yarn treatment to fabric printing and finishing. EFI Reggiani designs, manufactures, sells, and services high-quality machines across the globe for a wide variety of substrates and applications (fashion, home textile, sportswear, signage, flooring, automotive, and outdoor). EFI Reggiani’s innovations are the result of extensive research targeted to improve productivity and quality, optimize the textile manufacturing process, and reduce energy and water consumption, as well as environmental impact.

EFI Reggiani now has added GSW to their network of agents in Africa, MD of GSW Mr Roberto Franco says “due to popular demand of high-quality textile printing, we are proud to be in partnership with the EFI Reggiani team and have already received an influx of enquiries in the textile manufacturing sector.”

Did you know….

In 1909, the U.S. Navy banned naked lady tattoos on service member’s arms. In order to join the Navy, men had to have clothes tattooed on their nude bodies.

There’s a sock company that sells “sock jars” — slightly mismatched collections of socks — with the idea that you’re probably going to lose your matching pair anyway