:: FASHION IN AFRICA :: When North meets South! Tunisia, South Africa,Tunisie Afrique de Sud, Mode and Fashion en Afrique...

Home | Français | English

MUNICIPAL MANAGERS COLUMN: PRETORIA NEWS:"FASHION IN AFRICA WILL UNITE AND STIMULATE GROWTH"

"Allow me to give my best wishes to you all for the new year. I hope you find this column informative and I will try my best to keep you abreast of all the exciting and worthwhile project in Tshwane. My col-leagues and I are very excited about an upcoming project. It’s fresh, glamorous and promises to be lots of fun. In addition, I believe is extremely important on an economic scale - not only for our city, but also for the African continent and particularly the African textile and fashion industries. It is called Fashion in Africa and over the next few months I will be writing about it from time to time.

Fashion in Africa, which is being spearheaded by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM), is a fabulous concept aimed at creating partnerships with other African countries in showcas-ing, promoting and developing African fashion, particularly traditional African designs. In addition, it will incorporate other facets of culture, creating a platform for cross-cultural interaction, allowing us to share in the other rich cultures of the African continent. And in so doing, we hope to reach the ultimate aim, which is to stimulate economic growth through local and international trade in this dynamic indus-try.

Fashion in Africa will centre on an annual fashion show which will not only be a gala event, but will also offer other networking, business and cultural opportunities. The first fashion show, the pilot pro-ject of Fashion in Africa, will be run in collaboration with the Tunisian capital, Tunis. The idea of col-laboration with Tunisia came from President Thabo Mbeki's visit there in 2004 to promote trade and business partnerships between this northernmost African country and South Africa, the southernmost African country, symbolising the drive towards a united continent.

Tunisia was the perfect choice as the pilot project partner. Fashion has been a focus area for growth for the Tunisian people for some time now. Since 1996, the National Office for Tunisian Handicrafts in Tunis has been promoting a new line of Tunisian fashion through the annual Golden Khomsa Compe-tition. The competition encourages designs that are inspired by traditional Tunisian dress but meet the needs of a modern lifestyle."

We know the CTMM is not alone in promoting traditional fashion in South Africa. However Tshwane follows a unique approach. We have over a hundred embassies based in Tshwane and we intend to utilise their support fully in future to culminate this event into an annual African Fashion Show. Our plan only serves to raise the importance of this industry in our economy and in our cultures. All over the world, clothing designs inspired by traditional African dress are growing in popularity. Designers and fashion houses are making a fortune each year manufacturing and distributing these sought-after designs. Is it not time that Africans began putting their own designs and products on the rails of American and European boutiques? Moreover, the size of the fashion market in these places is as-tounding: African-Americans alone spends billions of dollars on fashion each year.

Fashion in Africa will not penetrate these markets single-handedly. So, the project aims to create an international platform for African fashion, including more and more Africa countries as time goes by. Established designers will be part of a show and a networking opportunity attended by international players, while young designers will be invited to submit their work for inclusion in the show. The selec-tion process alone will give these youngsters exposure and experience, and those selected will have an awesome debut showing.

The pilot fashion show with Tunisia will be held in May 2006. Thus far, ABSA is our main corporate sponsor. Other sponsors include Castello di Monte, one of our best five star guest houses in Tshwane who is sponsoring accommodation. I will keep you up to date on details and opportunities in this col-umn and the general media, but if you would like to find out more about the host of sponsorship and business opportunities, please call us on 012 358 1405.

We will chat about this project again soon. Until then, be proud of our local culture, in fashion and other areas. We have a lot to celebrate!

"PRETORIA NEWS"

01- Introduction 02- Objectives 03- Designers 04- Medias 05- Partners 06- Gallery 07- Contact 00- Links

Designed & Hosted by Webinformatique Tunisia