Arise Cape Town Fashion Week - Fashion ingenuity in a time of recession

Precious Moloi Motsepe, from African Fashion International (AFI) owners and organisers of fashion week says, “We are cognisant of the responsibility we have to the environment and the current economic climate, so we are actually placing design innovation at the forefront of our agenda this year. Overall budgets have been cut back and belts tightened, but in times of hardship I believe that innovation, the very cornerstone of our industry, will combine with resourcefulness to produce the most exciting and thrilling results - and that is often enough to inspire unexpected investment.”

For the first time this year, two big designers will be part of Arise Cape Town Fashion Week but showing off site.

The two designers will be having their shows off-site this year as a result of privately securing sponsorship investment, something which AFI has encouraged and also supports financially. Industry heavyweight, Gavin Rajah, will be showing his collection at the upmarket BMW Showroom, supported by the luxury brand. And red carpet favourites, Klûk CGDT, will be heading out to the wine lands to show their collection at Val de Vie Lifestyle and Polo Estate in Paarl on a leisurely Sunday morning. This level of opulent staging has not been seen in the industry for some years and it is encouraging that this year marks its return.

Even the designers who will continue to show at the core venue, the CTICC, have benefitted from sponsorship - in part secured by the Cape Town Fashion Council who have worked tirelessly to promote and nurture emerging designers in the region. This year the New Generations show has been sponsored by retail giant Foschini who continues to drive forward an agenda of supporting young design talent despite the financial downturn.

It also stands to reason that at a spring/summer fashion week, especially in an iconic holiday destination such as Cape Town, would not be complete without a swimwear show, and Southern Sun Hotel Group has joined the summer party by sponsoring swimwear designers LoveWaterLove, Dax Martin and Tracy B.

This does not mean that the designers themselves are immune to the pressures of the economy. To the contrary, many of the shows will indicate a firm awareness of the need for commercial collections. Malcolm Klûk says, “This collection, like most of our work, places the customer needs first because that will mean we will survive as a business.” This approach is backed up by New Generations designer Michelle Ludek, who says, “I have designed a collection based on what my customers will buy. I track all my sales and have altered the collection to reflect what the numbers tell me.”

“Both the Cape Town Fashion Council and African Fashion International have placed significant importance on business sustainability in our curatorship of this fashion week,” said Dr. Moloi-Motsepe, “but we are also thrilled that new sponsorship opportunities are being created by the off-site staging and we are hoping to see more of this in the future. We are considering adding a dedicated “off-site day” to our future schedules to encourage this type of ingenuity, especially during this challenging economic period.”