The past year has been one of interesting developments for me and one of these has been the recognition I've received from various players in the fashion and media industries. 2010 was quite a year indeed; I learnt a lot and I am hoping to learn a lot more about the ins-and-outs of fashion in South Africa and the continent at large.
My own journey in this industry, which I've been sharing on the pages of this blog, has been characterised by the realisation that our fashion industry is quite small and that the business of fashion is something that is often taken less seriously than the creative side of things. I've also learnt with much disappointment that, although designers seem to have this belief that their creativity alone is capable of building their businesses, that creativity itself hasn't spawned much innovation. That is; the catwalks seem to be churning out the same-old same-old, season after season.
I've personally been criticised on many fronts for honestly representing my views on this blog and have pointed out on many occassions that I'm in no way interested in impressing anyone. My interests lie with documenting South African fashion's journey in addition to contributing as much as I can to its growth through commentary and any other way I am given the opportunity to.
With that said, I hope that 2011 will be the year in which the major stakeholders in SA fashion- together with government and business- stop paying lip-service to their commitments to the industry and establish the long overdue National Fashion Council. Once that is done I have no doubt in my mind that a lot of the pieces that are the South African fashion industry puzzle will come together.
My own journey in this industry, which I've been sharing on the pages of this blog, has been characterised by the realisation that our fashion industry is quite small and that the business of fashion is something that is often taken less seriously than the creative side of things. I've also learnt with much disappointment that, although designers seem to have this belief that their creativity alone is capable of building their businesses, that creativity itself hasn't spawned much innovation. That is; the catwalks seem to be churning out the same-old same-old, season after season.
I've personally been criticised on many fronts for honestly representing my views on this blog and have pointed out on many occassions that I'm in no way interested in impressing anyone. My interests lie with documenting South African fashion's journey in addition to contributing as much as I can to its growth through commentary and any other way I am given the opportunity to.
With that said, I hope that 2011 will be the year in which the major stakeholders in SA fashion- together with government and business- stop paying lip-service to their commitments to the industry and establish the long overdue National Fashion Council. Once that is done I have no doubt in my mind that a lot of the pieces that are the South African fashion industry puzzle will come together.
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