The agony of a fashion designer
LOSSES: CANCELLATIONS DUE TO LOCKDOWN
Demand for masks keep Haute Afrika’s doors open.
Concerned: that is the best way to describe the current state of mind of fashion designer Gracia Bampile, founder of Haute Afrika. She has lost over 40% in sales as a result of the Covid-19 induced lockdown, but her biggest fear is how much the market will have changed post-Covid-19.
Bampile has dressed prominent names in the media industry including Maps Maponyane, Jessica Nkosi, Mihlali Ndamase, Boity Thulo and Natasha Thahane.
While the lockdown has affected the whole retail industry, for an upcoming brand like Haute Afrika, the impact is much more severe.
Bampile said February and April were the boom months in the fashion, design and textile industry, as many events occur during this period. “But with those being cancelled, it means we were left without much work. Right now, it means losses for over half of the year,” she said.
Forced to adjust to the new “normal” of having to wear masks, she found clients placing orders for them – a much-needed lifeline for her.
The demand for face masks is bringing in just enough income to keep Haute Afrika’s doors open. However, masks were only made a prerequisite for anyone leaving their home in May, so March and April were its “toughest months”.
What exacerbated the situation is that courier companies weren’t allowed to carry non-essential items until recently. Clients purchasing clothing online thus wouldn’t have been able to receive their deliveries.
Her business’s supply chain has been severely impacted in other ways too. Sourcing fabric has been a challenge due to shops been closed – even with the ease in lockdown regulations.
“Fabric shops are also facing shortages due to no importing, meaning we could only use the stock that we already had, limiting creativity,” said Bampile.
When asked how she has kept her business afloat, she said: “It has basically been operating as a non-profit organisation for the last couple of months and we expect this to continue until after winter.”
IQ Business chief economist Sifiso Skenjana advised entrepreneurs to research their industries, to find other revenue streams that will allow them to be resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Businesses should find alternative models around the original models that they were operating around,” Skenjana said, citing South African Breweries’ temporary switch from manufacturing alcohol to hand sanitisers, as an example.
Skenjana also warns start-ups owners against payment holidays. “The whole thinking around payment holidays is not the most ideal because they tend to attract an interest rate for the period that you are no paying.”
He advised that where possible employers should try to make use of relief systems such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme benefit, and other grants availed by government institutions for various sectors.
“Those opportunities are certainly the first options that business owners should look to, before they look at the debt holiday plans,” he said.
Bampile is hoping not to be forced to let go of her staff.
“We are trying to keep everyone and we hope it will stay that way. We have built a family at Haute Afrika and it would be heartbreaking to have to let anyone go.”