In the year 1999, just before the dawn of the new millennium, ordinary township folks woke up to the news that a child was born and named Loxion Kulca.
The brand that every Tom, Dick and Harry embraced was launched to bring township style to their hood as a form of celebrating loxion style. People bought to the idea, their fashion sense relate harmoniously to their culture.
You did not need to be a pantsula to fall in love with this clothing label. Even those in the suburbs identified themselves with this locally produced clothing label. The label also wanted to break the monopoly of international brands in the country as it wanted to gatecrash the fashion industry.
In their strategy to gag the loud noise that the local brands were making, these international brands endorsed our local celebrities as ambassadors to their brands to boost their image visibility. This did not stop our local fashion designers to penetrate the fashion market.
The hegemony of international brands saw their monopoly declining as emerging local brands such as MaXhosa by Laduma, A Brand Called You, Bathu Sneakers and Grip. These brands, which are the most significant contributors to the economy in the country not only give relevance to their customers but also contribute to our country’s GDP.
According to the study titled Assessing the Economic Value of the Designer Fashion Sector in South Africa, carried out by GQ magazine (The publication focuses on fashion, style and culture for men), South Africa’s fashion designers have contributed at least R1bn to GDP in 2019. As the study records major international interest in local design, it suggests that there is a significant opportunity for local designers to establish a meaningful presence in the global fashion market, which they valued at an estimated $1,5-trillion. Completed just prior to the March 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, the study was the result of a collaboration between the department of trade, industry and competition and the South African Cotton Cluster as a national intervention.
The R1bn may sound like a lot as a contribution to the GDP but it is just a drop in the ocean as compared to other sectors. The fashion industry is so unfortunate that unscrupulous counterfeit syndicates have thwarted its growth in the country. These syndicates are illegally making a living off their work. We saw how music piracy hurt our economy and if we continue to support these people, the fashion industry will head the same direction of the entertainment industry.
When Edcon group, the largest retail group in the country, closed some of its shops, many people lost their jobs after dwindling sales and profits. As the country grapples with the effect of the coronavirus, our brothers and sisters became victims of job losses, but fortunately, other local brands remained resolute in making sure that jobs were not lost.
After years of trying to stamp its authority in the fashion industry, Bathu sneakers has now created employment for more than 100 people. From this milestone, it is evident that jobs in our country can be created and saved by supporting locally produced goods. By supporting their mission of being the biggest sneakers retailer in the country, their sustainability and viability of business depends on us supporting their brands by not buying counterfeit goods.
As local patrons refrain from buying counterfeit goods, we can only support the Buy Black Week campaign from December 7 to 14. According to Buy Black Foundation, the aim of this campaign is to urge all South Africans to support the campaign by spending their money on black-owned products to reduce the country’s inequality, poverty and upgrade the township economy.
Supporting black businesses by buying their products during a Buy Black Week could result in more than R7bn being circulated in black communities. While unscrupulous syndicates are busy capitalising on the intellectual property of our brothers and sisters, the least we could do is to buy local brands this festive season.
• Mogotlane is a social commentator and a public servant. He writes in his personal capacity
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