If you are a lover and supporter of South African fashion,
you will agree that it has grown tremendously in the last few years. South African Fashion Week and Mercedes Benz
Fashion are proof of such.
Although there is growth, it’s unfortunate that we’ve also
seen stores owned by South African designers close down. SAM store in Umhlanga
Centre, a proudly South African clothing store, closed last month and they have
opted to take it online.
“I feel that most of the
stores like that which close down, is actually due to lack of support not only
from consumers but also from the government,” said Genna West, owner of SAM
Store.
West says SMEs are unable to
survive tough economic times due to a large amount of international chain
stores that are watering down the consumer pool.
Lorinda Voges, renowned PR
guru and director of 4Elementsmedia, says several
macroeconomic factors are driving this push where we see local designers
closing down.
“Personally I do think that
many of the local fashion retailers closing stores are facing company-specific
problems that in some ways forced them to downsize.” She said.
Voges suggests that collaborations
between different designers in stocking their clothes in one retail space would
be a good idea.
“Convoy in Melville is a typical
example where 6 local designers decided to share their love for fashion in 1
retail space,” she added.
Voges added that PR for any
lifestyle brand is very important, especially if you want to be known and seen.
“It is important for a brand
to not only form relationships with fashion editors, but also with fashion
bloggers as well as influencers that would wear their brand and speak about it
on social media platforms,” she said.
West on the other hand
thinks creatives can sometimes be their own worst enemy. She feels that they do not market themselves
enough nor do they market their outlets.
“You can have 30
brands in one store and see no increase in turn over simply because those
creatives are not driving their customers to their stockists,” she explained.
West thinks South Africans
are willing to support local designers but there is some confusion on the cost
of locally made and designer goods.
“Another issue is the
misconception that because its a locally made then it must be significantly
cheaper than everywhere else that is imported when meanwhile our labour is
regulated here in order to protect human rights, which is something people need
to support more, that we live in such a fantastic democratic society where our
workers have rights.” West concluded.
