David Tlale's #MBFWJ17 collection at Edgars in September

Tlale was excited about this African-print themed collection after he made the announcement following his fashion show at the recent Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg. “This collection is a venture I have wanted to do for a long time. I have always been known for high-end fashion but with this collection, I am making my work available to a larger audience at market-related prices.”

The partnership between Edcon and Tlale dates back to 2012 when Tlale launched a capsule collection within Legit stores. “It has been a natural progression to where we are now. There is great alignment between the two brands and we share similar values. I grew up wearing clothing from Edgars, which has managed to withstand the test of time, and become a household name in South Africa. Choosing the Edgars store as a distributor for my latest collection makes perfect sense,” says Tlale.

The collection will be available at Sandton City and East Rand Mall in Johannesburg, Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria, Mall of the North in Polokwane and Gateway Mall in Durban.

Tlale continues to partner with Edcon on a number of other projects, including as a mentor on the group’s youth development initiatives, an underwear line with Jockey stocked at Edgars Active stores and a sponsorship by CNA of fashion design materials, including stationery for The Intern by David Tlale, his new reality show. On the show, the contestants are taken through the back-end operations of Jet stores, which also forms part of Edcon, exposing them to the full value chain of the retail industry apart from the design aspect.

Reviving industry through collaboration

“We have a responsibility to work together to revive what once was a thriving textile and fashion industry in South Africa. Edcon’s support of local designers like me is giving hope to the upcoming generation that local manufacturing has a future. Continued collaboration will ensure that young designers are able to study and qualify, and that they learn about the concept of the value chain, which is a critical component of the retail industry,” concludes Tlale.

Bernie Brookes, Edcon chief executive, said, “David Tlale has been a partner since 2012, due to the collaboration we share and the passion to progress the local industry. He has done great work to invest in the future of fashion and we are proud to be associated with him. We have similar projects we have undertaken to empower young and upcoming designers that has exposed some world class talent. I am confident that our involvement will empower local potential suppliers and this will ultimately help us increase the percentage of our locally sourced merchandise so we can reach our goal of procuring majority locally sourced goods.”