AFRICA’S FASHION MARKET MOVING FORWARD; The Revolution!

South Africa's Fashion 'Rebels'? Fashionable or bizarre?- www.zumi.co.ke

The fashion industry apparel value chain is a game of “costs, capacity, speed, quality, and compliance” and in 2013, Swedish clothing retailer H&M started sourcing from Ethiopian garment producers and set up H&M ‘made in Ethiopia’ quarters in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian government saw this as lucrative and three years later the Hawassa industrial park came to existence offering 37 factory units dedicated solely to the textile and apparel sector homing six local companies and 15 textile and apparel companies including PVH, a company known for marketing diversified portfolio of brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Countries like Kenya conversely made over $400M in 2014 on ready- made garments to the U.S under the AGOA agreement and for the last 15 years they emerged as the top exporter of ready-made garments to the U.S, overtaking Lesotho, Madagascar and Mauritius.

Global fashion brands are shifting attention to sub- Saharan Africa from Asia for creativity and manufacturing, estimating Africa’s fashion industry at $75 billion by 2025 from today’s $31M value mark. With a growing younger African population forming a large share of the rising middle class seeking access to a wider choice in food, consumer goods, fashion and cosmetics, brands need to run their territories seriously and pay attention to what the market place wants. There is need to analyze the brand’s business and readiness in playing a good game moving forward. Jain Mc Guigan and Monet Viviers directors of 8^th Ave Online, South Africa call this the need to optimize on maintaining the brand’s presence in today’s evolving African fashion market.

Liz Ogumbo, with Jain Mcguigan and Monet Viviers  from 8^th Ave, SA

Brands need to optimize their management readiness by collaborating with the market at a wider sense. Working with lawyers, brand managers, publicists, accountants, banking institutions and the likes creates a good eco-system for the fashion industry and a network community that supports a brands structure. Business survey brands tend to make it in the Fashion industry and create a wider space for their business and brands need to educate themselves on this. A brand’s management process cannot take shortcuts Jain Mc Guigan said on FashionLabRadio. There is need for astute marketing and presentation of the brand. Monet Viviers believes that product readiness is also key. Quality of clothing and design is important, with brands paying attention to clients style, size perspective and demography to bring in the sense of product readiness. Putting into consideration a clients’ demography such as climate and seasons for instance helps a brand get into other different markets regionally. Trunk shows are effective in market readiness they remind me of how couturier presented the season's latest creations to European aristocrats, who would later be advised on the most flattering ball gown. The 8^th Ave duo believe trunk shows are important in ratcheting up business excitement whilst feeding the designers ego! They allow designers to present samples of entire collections (yes, in trunks!) to the public at retail locations allowing for the preview of the merchandise before it’s made available to the public. They create an opportunity to be associated with a store and give credibility to the brand. Raising funds to participate in a trunk and trade show might be a big fight but they are fundamental in starting any business, with Co-operations such as SIDA providing sponsorship to designers to participate making it not much of a stretch.

With the top ten apparel exporting countries in Africa being located in Eastern and Southern Africa, it creates a new exciting side to Africa’s fashion industry and offers a tremendous scope for African countries to participate in regional and global integration. Designers and brands need to optimize across these dimensions to illustrate a buyer-driven chain where retailers retain control over their supplier’s production, $75 billion is at stake!