SA Fashion Week

In response to an all-pervasive digital reality replacing the physical world, designers became innovative and leaner, turning to increased productivity to remain in, and even grow their businesses.

Production cycles were shortened, and collections were fiercely curated to ensure minimum wastage with optimum cash flow. Circular Fashion principles, such as repurposing local fabric with signature printing in the absence of imports, focused on improving quality rather than quantity. Working with fewer, but more upskilled artisans and therefore better paid became the norm. Equally key was the necessity to amplify digital marketing capacity as well as identify synergistic and cost-effective additional income streams.

Collectively SA Fashion Week and the designer community were compelled to deepen their understanding of the unique needs of the various role players in the ecosystem. In addition, they needed to earnestly interrogate the steps required to drive the increasingly important ethos of sustainability within the value chain.