South Africa's vibrant fashion scene props up fading textiles industry

This year's 16th South Africa Fashion week in Johannesburg, bigger and busier than any before, showcased contribitions from across the production line from locally reared designers to tailors and suppliers of lace, dyes, buttons and zips.

"For a small country like South Africa, it really is up and coming and 16 years ago we did not have any of this so South Africa Fashion Week contributed hugely to the development of the creative fashion design in South Africa, and that is what we stand for, that is what we are here for. We do not just form a platform, we actually are the support system. We play the role of a counsel in the country," said Lucilla Booyzen, Director of South African Fashion Week.

Events like fashion week also carry the hopes of thousands of jobless textile workers living in poverty.

For decades, the textile industry was a mainstay of Africa's biggest economy until about 20 years ago when cheaper imports from Asia began saturating the market forcing factories to close down.

According to the South African Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) over 160,000 jobs have been lost since 1996.

But the revival of local textiles businesses with the emergence of successful South African designers, has seen the rate of job losses on the decline.

Twenty four-year-old Faith Mathye is a seamstress at Mzansi Designer's Emporium, a collective of black South African designers looking to empower the fashion skilled.

"I am able to help my mother and my family. I do not have a child yet so I am able to support my family and people at home," said Mathye.

One of the labels working with co-operatives of seamstresses and pattern makers to produce a collection of African inspired designs is Mantsho - meaning brutally black.

The label's designer, Palesa Mokubung says South Africa's design space is huge but there was a need to create opportunities for every level of the local market.

"There is a gap in the market right now and it's so big and I think that all South Africans designers can have a piece of the market. I am just trying to do that and I think I have enough experience to flex my creative muscles and I am working on watering that down and making it more accessible," said Mokubung.

Internationally acclaimed designers such as Kluk CGDT, David Tlale, Lunar and Clive Rundle increased the country's fashion footprint by representing South Africa at New York Fashion Week last year.

Showing at a high profile event like South Africa Fashion Week also exposes up and coming designers to new markets and lucrative store deals.

With the right marketing and exposure, Booyzen says deals with international retail stores in Europe and USA can earn South African designers close to 1 million US dollars a year.

Local clothing retail giant Edgars also stocks designs straight off the runways for easy access to consumers.

But with such opportunities South Africa will have to put the infrastructure in place to avoid the local gains being edged out by more textile imports.

"There are a lot of international buyers that are interested, that are interested in buying and there are lot of designers that are at this point in time exporting but we need a lot of imports when it comes to our local design. We do not have fabric, we do not manufacture fabric, we do not design textile and whatever we have in this country gets exported," said Booyzen.

South Africa has lost ground in several manufacturing sectors because of the high cost and low productivity of its workforce.

The average South African factory worker makes about six times more than a Chinese factory worker and is less efficient, according to government data.