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Fashion Council asks: 'What you Ghana do?'
Under its theme "What you Ghana do," the recent third AGM of the Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) created a starting block for opening up discussions surrounding how South Africa and Africa have been used and should continue to be used as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
The theme was reiterated by Township Patterns talking about what it has been doing in the past few years, in poverty-stricken communities, to ensure that unique South African elements are not lost amongst the growing elements of this industry. The company draws inspiration from the various townships in and around Cape Town to create its fabric prints and designs, employing women from the townships to do seamstress and craftwork on all its products.
The Provincial Government's (Western Cape) Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde hosted the meeting and stated, "we (the South African fashion industry) need to position ourselves in the world" adding the subsequent importance of this and how it coincides with the CTFC's mission to advance the Western Cape's (and South Africa's) fashion industry.
Report back
The executive director and chairperson, Stefanie Vieira and Ian Stein presented the report back for the past financial year. Successes for 09/10 financial year included the CTFC's training of 198 individuals via workshops and the securing R12.3 million from the DTI's Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Improvement Programme (CTCIP) grant scheme, for the newly created Cape Town Fashion Council Fashion Cluster. The CTFC also opened its Fashion Technology and Innovation Centre (FTIC) at this year's AGM. The FTIC is adjacent to the new office space and will serve the industry by providing small business enterprises with access to specialized machinery and technology.
