Online fashion help for Africa
FASHION is big business and the African Development Bank (AfDB) wants economies on the continent to cash in on the billions to be made. For this to happen however‚ Africa’s fragmented fashion industry needs to be unified.
“There’s a lot of beautiful crafty fabric that gets developed on the continent but having access to that means you’re going to have to go on a fact-finding mission. You’re going to spend a lot of money to get into those markets and meet the individuals who are producing them‚” fashion entrepreneur and founder of luxury brand the Naked Ape Shaldon Kopman said.
Currently 10 top countries in Africa rake in $2.5-billion (R34.5billion) in apparel exports‚ representing only 0.55% of the global figure. In the next decade‚ the global fashion industry is expected to double‚ generating up to $5-trillion (R69-trillion)‚ according to the AfDB.
Kopman and his designer colleagues said creating ease of intercontinental trade will go a long way to increasing Africa’s piece of the pie.
The launch of AfDB’s online platform‚ Fashionomics http://fashionomicsafrica.org/ ‚ is intended to do just that.
A prototype of the website is currently live and provides fashion industry players with access to research reports‚ details of design schools‚ access to funding models and financing sources and lists of jobs and business opportunities.
It also provides a forum where industry players can talk and online tutorials for upskilling people.
The free online initiative has been welcomed by designers like Kopman who said their greatest challenges are financing and collaboration with others in the fashion value chain.
Fashion veteran Clive Rundle‚ who has shown his collections on the runways of New York and Italy‚ said access to funding and a lack of financial know-how are big challenges.
“If the designer doesn’t have the financial acumen‚ they are incapacitated. They literally have to rely on someone who has huge financial acumen and that costs money. Then they have to bear the cost of making an application [for financing] that comes in too late.”
Rundle said a platform like Fashionomics will share information that will arm those in the industry with the knowledge to keep up in the fastpaced world of fashion.
For Kopman‚ the platform will cut down on the money he spends travelling to source materials by giving him access to a network of suppliers.
“It’s all about the growth of fashion on the continent and to grow‚ you require networks.”