A year after launching accessories label JW Pei, husband and wife duo Yang Pei and Stephanie Li were faced with a choice: Go up or down.

When the two launched their brand, which sells bags, shoes and other accessories, in 2018, it sat squarely within the accessible luxury category, selling bags like its now discontinued Fiona Bag for $300. But after launch, it had found only “lukewarm success,” Pei said, as the contemporary sector, which sits in the often-tough middle between luxury and fast fashion, was becoming increasingly saturated, with labels like Staud, Danse Lente and Rouje.

To differentiate, contemporary brands like Isabel Marant hiked their prices so they could sell to higher-earning customers who are usually less vulnerable to economic downturns. JW Pei, however, did the opposite.

The accessories label’s hero product, the Gabbi handbag, which features a ruched shoulder strap and hobo shape, is priced at $89.

“We can keep prices low because we function like a tech company,” said Pei, the label’s chief executive. “We only make what the data tells us will sell.”

In deciding what bags to produce, JW Pei looks at what bags are added to cart and which “eventually turn into a sale,” Pei said, and orders product accordingly to eliminate excess inventory. Plus, the brand owns its entire supply chain – pillars which Pei says have allowed the brand to grow profitably. Last year, the brand grew sales 50 percent over 2022 to $50 million.

More than just profitable growth, the brand has earned a crop of high-profile fans. Stars including Gigi Hadid, Megan Fox and Emily Ratajkowski have been spotted carrying JW Pei bags. The label’s bags have also made it onto the red carpet, with actress Selena Gomez wearing a sparkly Gabbi bag to this year’s Golden Globes.

To drive further growth, JW Pei wants to use artificial intelligence to speed up its design process and expand its geographic footprint with new store openings. Meanwhile, its parent company, PL Brands Group, is acquiring its competitors, like Danse Lente, betting that it can build a network of affordable bags that feel a bit more luxe than fast fashion.

“Consumers are feeling pressure across their entire wallet,” said Kristen Classi-Zummo, industry analyst for apparel at Circana. “Consumers are trading down to fast fashion or to dupes. For those trading up, their ceiling is much lower and has landed in contemporary fashion.”

Generating Buzz

For consumers like New York City-based writer Jacquelyne Germain, who owns three JW Pei bags, the brand feels like “a step-up from Zara” with a price tag much easier to swallow than a designer label.

According to Pei, that mix of “high quality materials” with trendy design details has been instrumental to the brand’s growth.

“We had quietly built a community on Instagram where our products really shine,” said Li, the brand’s creative director. “The buzz had been organic largely because I believe we’re fun and playful, but also, the bags can be worn over and over and in different situations.”

Another boost to that buzz has been the brand’s circle of celebrity fans. Former first daughter Ivanka Trump was one of the first known names to place an order on the brand’s site, prompting Pei and Li to begin sending their bags to celebrity stylists, eventually landing on the arms of Hadid, Hailey Bieber and more. Since then, Pei says, the brand’s growth has been exponential.

“Any $600 bag or a Birkin can be seen on a model, but the press, paparazzi and social media pay attention when the bag is less than $100,” said Pei. “It’s a win-win for us and the stylists.”

Celebrity placement remains its primary tool for driving conversation online, and the brand is exclusively looking to connect with massive names like Hadid and Bieber.

“We’re a little-known brand, but everyone in the world would instantly know who Gigi Hadid is,” Pei said. “That is our leverage when we enter new markets like Japan and Korea or work with new retailers. Working with local celebrities would not be as effective.”

What’s Next

Relying on a data-driven product strategy and celebrity endorsements has gotten the brand this far, but JW Pei is looking beyond those tactics in 2024.

This year, the company will launch a ready-to-wear line and begin experimenting with artificial intelligence in the design process. JW Pei will use generative AI programme Midjourney to assist in fashion design research — so it can more quickly identify emerging trends and silhouettes — as well as sketching the designs. The label’s human designers, led by Li, will use the research to inform new colourways, material selection and produce collections.

The goal is to shorten production times to get trendy items to consumers faster, Li added.

Later this year, the brand — which sells via its own e-commerce platform and wholesale partners like Nordstrom and Selfridges — is set to open its first brick-and-mortar shop in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood in the autumn. The store’s stock will be determined by data: Prior to opening the shop, JW Pei will launch an online marketing campaign designed to determine which products and styles New York consumers want to buy. Only those products will be sold in store.

The plan is to repeat this process in other locations, and open 20 stores in the US as well as locations in London, Dubai and Hong Kong in the next three to five years.

But perhaps JW Pei’s greatest ambition is to expand the reach of its parent PL Brands Group, which is owned by Pei and Li.

The company acquired Danse Lente, a London-based accessories label and one of JW Pei’s competitors, in December 2023, and wants to apply the same approach it took with JW Pei to the label: Expanding into new categories, entering wholesale and of course, lowering prices. Because it also owns China-based manufacturing and distribution firm Lo Monte International, it controls the supply chain for both brands, giving the company more control over pricing, materials and labour costs.

“Danse Lente has great brand value but their prices are too high,” said Pei. “With our factories, we’ll be able to drive the prices down, test new styles online and ensure the brand keeps growing.”

This year, it hopes to add three new brands to its arsenal, whether through an internal launch or acquisition. In keeping the strategies that have proved fruitful so far at the heart of their business, Pei believes it can keep expanding.

“Everybody has the capability to design bags, have beautiful images and strong marketing, which is why the $300 price point or the contemporary market is a dead zone,” said Pei. “In a few years, the biggest differentiator will be the supply chain and how well a company is situated to get the consumer’s attention in new ways.”

Today, LVMH announced the eight designers shortlisted to compete for the 11th edition of the LVMH Prize for Young Designers, Karl Lagerfeld prize and inaugural Savoir-Faire Prize for craftsmanship.

The finalists are Julian Louie’s Aubero, Duran Lantink, Ellen Hodakova Larsson’s Hodakova, Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, Niccolò Pasqualetti, Paolo Carzana, Pauline Dujancourt and Standing Ground by Michael Stewart.

On Sept. 10 the designers will present their collections at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. Designer Phoebe Philo and Louis Vuitton menswear creative director Pharrell Williams were added to the jury which also includes Loewe designer Jonathan Anderson, Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, Louis Vuitton womesnwear creative director Nicolas Ghesquière, designer Marc Jacobs, Dior CEO Delphine Arnault and LVMH Fashion Group CEO Sidney Toledano.

The winner of the LVMH Prize will be awarded €400,000 ($428,000) and the winners of the Karl Lagerfeld and Savoir-Faire Prizes will win €200,000. All winners will receive mentorship by LVMH.

Learn more:

Satoshi Kuwata’s Setchu Wins the 2023 LVMH Prize

The Savile Row-trained Japanese designer will receive a grant of €400,000 and mentoring by luxury’s biggest group. Italy’s Magliano and London-based Bettter, winners of the runner-up Karl Lagerfeld prize, will receive €200,000 each.

Fintech lender Affirm has started quietly offering “buy now, pay later” loans for elective medical procedures, in a major push beyond its core e-commerce market, the company told Reuters.

Over the past year, Affirm has more than doubled the number of elective medical merchants on its network, reaching around 130 at of the end of 2023. The San Francisco-based company is hoping to tap growing consumer demand for financing for cosmetic treatments, dental services, medical devices and veterinary procedures.

“A lot of these price points are about $2,000 and above, so that suits our installment product ... really well,” Pat Suh, Affirm’s senior vice president of revenue, said in an interview.

While Affirm has been adding elective medical providers since the middle of last year, it has not previously discussed or publicised its push into the sector, the first by a major BNPL provider in the US market, the company said.

Affirm’s installment product charges between 0 percent and 36 percent, depending on the purchase price and a borrower’s credit profile.

“It’s a smart growth strategy,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, a consumer finance publisher. “They’re already doing a lot with e-commerce, and that’ll continue to grow, but it’s always about the next big thing.”

In 2022, the global market for cosmetic procedures and dental services combined was worth more than half a trillion dollars, market research firm Grand View Research estimated.

Global veterinary services were worth $124.37 billion in 2023, according to Precedence Research.

Buy now, pay later exploded in popularity as the pandemic forced more shoppers online.

The move into medical highlights how lenders in the space are trying to expand beyond what Affirm chief executive Max Levchin described to analysts in November as the “e-commerce cage.”

It could also fuel concerns among regulators and advocacy groups that BNPL lending, which has grown rapidly, is leading consumers to borrow more than they can afford.

As part of the expansion, Affirm has partnered with Weave, a customer relationship management platform for small and medium-sized healthcare businesses, as a distribution partner.

BNPL providers partner with retailers like Amazon and Walmart to finance customer purchases, earning a commission on the sale and interest on the loan, which shoppers repay in a handful of installments. BNPL loans drove $75 billion in online spending in 2023, up 14.3 percent from 2022, according to Adobe Analytics.

Despite that growth, some fintech lenders have been pressured by high interest rates and inflation, which have driven up their borrowing costs and customer delinquencies, though Affirm’s 30-day delinquencies are currently steady compared to the year prior.

The company’s shares are down more than 30 percent from its initial public offering price in January 2021.

While most BNPL purchases are for discretionary consumer goods like clothes and beauty, spending on services, travel, healthcare and even education has been growing since 2019, according to a 2022 US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.

Affirm is marketing elective medical procedure loans as an alternative to medical credit cards, like Synchrony Financial’s CareCredit, and installment loans. Those products typically waive interest payments for a promotional period after which annual interest is on average 27 percent, according to the CFPB.

“Being able to shift consumers away from paying these types of high interest and deferred rates into a product like ours, we think there’s a lot of value to that,” Suh said.

Affirm declined to disclose the average interest rate it charges customers for elective medical purchases, but said that nearly half of its transactions in the category are at 0 percent APR - a higher proportion compared to other categories.

The company has been tightening credit standards and said in a Feb. 8 earnings report that 30-day delinquencies on monthly loans were flat from a year earlier at 2.4 percent.

Financial Distress

Still, some consumer advocates worry the growth of BNPL may contribute to a consumer debt crisis.

BNPL borrowers are more likely to have lower credit scores and lower savings on average, according to the CFPB. US borrowers on lower incomes are increasingly struggling to keep up with their loan payments, Reuters reported on Monday.

Because many BNPL lenders do not provide comprehensive data to credit reporting agencies, consumer advocates have warned that the firms have little insight into borrowers’ indebtedness.

“One of our long standing concerns is a cumulative impact of multiple buy now, pay later loans on top of other expenses and debt obligations, which could really push the consumer over into over-indebtedness and financial distress,” said Delicia Hand, a senior director at Consumer Reports.

Affirm mostly lends to near-prime and prime, credit scores between about 620 and 719, borrowers. The company says it only lends what customers are able to repay, total charges are disclosed upfront, and there are no late or hidden fees.

Affirm looks at every customer’s financial position, Suh said, “in order to offer them an appropriate amount of credit.”

By Hannah Lang; editing by Michelle Price and Bill Berkrot

🇿🇦 South African Fashion Week proves its regional clout with new showcase. The biannual event, which took place this season from Apr. 18 to 20, saw local designers such as Mzukisi Mbane’s label Imprint, Fekile, Belhauzen, Bam Collective, Black Coffee, Viviers, Heart & Heritage and Helon Melon present their latest collections, and Oddity walk away with the Mr Price New Talent Search prize. Lucilla Booyzen, SAFW founder and CEO, forged an alliance with Mozambique Fashion Week’s CEO Vasco Rocha featuring three designers from the Mozambican capital Maputo on the Johannesburg runways — Sania Bacar, Shaazia Adam and Omar Adelino. It is the latest international collaboration between SAFW and industry leaders in the wider southern Africa region. “These ventures allow us to share skills and insights, open unexplored business opportunities, and ultimately, to extend the sphere of our respective creative visions...beyond our familiar borders,” said Booyzen. [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇱 Chilean mall operator Mallplaza acquires Falabella’s Peruvian unit. The company which has 26 properties across Chile, Peru and Colombia has agreed to buy Falabella Peru, which consists of 100 percent of the operations of Open Plaza Peru and 66.6 percent of Mall Plaza Peru, for $848 million from Falabella, the Santiago-based Latin American department store group with operations in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Colombia. Falabella CEO Alejandro González Dale said that the “reorganisation will benefit both companies” while Mallplaza CEO Fernando de Peña Iver said “by consolidating both companies on a single platform and achieving a greater scale in the operation, we will be able to incorporate important synergies and efficiencies in Peru.” [FashionNetwork]

🇳🇬 Lagos Fashion Week presents artisanal showcase Woven Threads. The fifth edition of the showcase took place in Nigeria’s commercial capital from Apr. 19 to 21, focusing on the community spirit that helps traditional craftsmanship, such as local tie-dye, textile embellishments and weaving techniques, to flourish. Facilitated by Planet 3R, Afthonia, Mitimeth and Éki Kéré, designers including Dust of the Earth, Bornstarng, Pettre Taylor, Y’Wandelag, Ajanéé, By Wuzzy, Oshobor, Kilentar, E.S.O by Liman and Ré Lagos participated in intimate salon-style presentations featuring garments crafted by artisans using principles of transparency, traceability and longevity. [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 LVMH reports 10% rise in global sales to Chinese customers in Q1. For the company’s overall quarterly results, sales increased 3 percent on an organic basis, confirming fears that luxury demand would continue to sputter around the world. “If we compare Q1 to Q1, last year the mainlanders were shopping 90 percent in Asia, whereas this year it’s less than 80 percent. So it explains why there’s a little bit of pressure on Chinese sales but also on Asian sales in this division,” said Jean-Jacques Guiony, CFO of LVMH. “What is significant is that the Chinese cluster is growing by 10 percent. Where the business happens is not a source of concern on our side.” [BoF, Jing Daily]

🇨🇳 Chow Tai Fook sees Q4 sales rise more than 12% in Greater China. The Hong Kong-based jewellery retailer posted retail sales growth in mainland China (which accounts for 88.6 percent of business) of 12.4 percent, while Hong Kong, Macau, and other markets together rose by 12.8 percent. [Jing Daily]

🌍 Gold prices rise amid Israel-Iran conflict as investors seek safe haven. The price rose on Friday, following an escalation of the military conflict in the Middle East which, according to the US, saw Israel retaliate against Iran’s earlier attacks in its territory, which in turn were in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Syria earlier this month. With Iran backing Hamas in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, geopolitical tensions in the region have flared. “The news from Iran drove up prices for safe-haven assets like gold, the US dollar and Japanese yen, while stocks fell and bonds rallied,” IG analysts added in a note to clients. Some markets later calmed once Iran downplayed the limited nature of the latest strikes. [Euronews]

🇮🇳 Sources say India’s Tata Group is in talks to invest in Fabindia. The conglomerate, which has diversified holdings spanning everything from steel and cars to financial services and jewellery, is in talks with the traditional Indian apparel maker and retailer, according to sources familiar with the matter. Tata’s stake or outright acquisition would likely value the company below the $2.5 billion threshold pegged by its aborted IPO. Fabindia was founded in 1960 to market the diverse craft traditions of India, especially apparel using hand-made textiles, skills, processes and techniques. [The Hindu]

🇨🇳 L’Oréal Q1 sales in China grew 6.2% easing concerns about a slowdown. The company’s overall global results showed sales up 9.4 percent on a like-for-like basis, but the North Asia region suffered from an unfavourable comparison base in travel retail and sluggish market growth in mainland China. “We are unhappy about the fact that this market is not rebounding the way we expected it to rebound,” said Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal Group, though he added that the company is still outperforming the broader market [BoF]

🇮🇳 India’s ABFRL aims to raise $300 million through Madura demerger. Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd said it plans to split its holdings into a new separate listed entity called Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brands Ltd (ABLBL) which will comprise the firm’s current Madura unit of brands and partnerships such as Louis Phillippe, Van Heusen, American Eagle, Forever 21 and Reebok, raising around 2500 crore rupees in the process. ABFRL will retain holdings like Pantaloons, Sabyasachi, Tasva, multi-brand The Collective and Galeries Lafayette India. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 Western diamond buyers scrutinise Indian exports over Russia sanctions. US and European buyers have started requesting proof of origin certification for small stones from India even though the G7 ban on Russian diamonds over the war in Ukraine applies only to stones that are 1 carat and larger. “This is creating a lot of confusion in the market and impacting cut and polished diamond exports from India,” said Vipul Shah, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman. [Economic Times]

🇦🇺 Australia considers security measures after mall stabbing rampage. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has alluded to the review after an incident on Apr. 13 where six people were killed at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall. The Shopping Centre Council of Australia welcomed his comments, with CEO Angus Nardi saying the council stands ready to engage with policy proposals. [Ragtrader]

🇨🇳 Chinese skincare giant Proya reports annual revenue of $1.2 billion. The Hangzhou-based company founded by Hou Juncheng in 2006 has posted revenues of 8.9 billion yuan for the 2023 fiscal year. Earlier this year, analysts attributed the strong performance of the C-beauty brand to its ability to response rapidly to social media skincare trends taking off on Xiaohongshu and other platforms. [Jing Daily, BoF]

🇮🇳 Trase Footwear is reacquired by founders; raises $500,000 in angel round. The direct-to-consumer shoe brand has secured funding in a round led by investors including Deep Bajaj and Mohit Bajaj, founders of Sirona Hygiene, and has been reacquired by its founders Jitin Goel and Dhruv Gupta from roll-up firm Upscalio. [Economic Times]

🇸🇬 Singapore’s Nibertex secures investment from Foxmont Capital Partners. The materials firm based between Singapore and the Philippines, has closed a funding round led by the Manila-based venture capital firm for an undisclosed amount. This capital will be used to accelerate the launch of the firm’s PFAS-free membrane technology for use in textiles. PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” that can take hundreds or thousands of years to break down in the environment, are often used to make products resistant to water, stains or heat. [TexFash]

🇮🇳 Indian beauty firm Good Glamm Group lays off 150 employees. The Mumbai-based content-to-commerce unicorn, which began as DTC makeup brand MyGlamm before acquiring a stable of beauty and personal care products and partnering with American tennis champion Serena Williams for her beauty brand, has laid off around 15 percent of its workforce. The streamlining of redundant roles after the group acquired companies in recent years follows the departure of co-founder Priyanka Gill and CFO Piyush Kalra and the appointment of Manan Jain as COO. [Economic Times]

🇿🇦 South Africa’s Zando launches new business to counter Shein and Temu. The online fashion retailer, founded in 2012 and part of Africa-focused e-commerce retailer Jumia Group, has launched an international division called Zando Global in a bid to take on the China-founded ultra-fast fashion brands. Zando Global will use Buffalo International Logistics, Temu and Shein’s partner. [Zawya]

🇻🇪 Venezuela’s Fashion Retailers & Beauty Trails set to enter China. The retailer present in eight markets across Latin America (Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil) is inking a deal with a Chinese distributor, the company said. The multi-brand retailer, which distributes brands from Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Argentina and Italy and produces its own brand in factories across India, China, Pakistan and Indonesia, was founded in 2011 and merged with Peru’s perfumery and cosmetics firm Beauty Trails in 2022. [Modaes]

🇨🇳 City officials incentivise brands to open their first Asia store in Shanghai. The “Debut in Shanghai” policy, launched on April 11, features an incentive of 1 million yuan ($138,000) for international brands opening their first Asia store in the city. [Jing Daily]

🌏 Piaget taps Asian celebrities ‘Apo’ Nattawin and Lee Jun-ho as ambassadors. The Swiss luxury brand has signed an endorsement deal with the Thai actor, whose full name is Nattawin Wattanagitiphat, and the South Korean actor and singer, alongside British model Ella Richards, the granddaughter of the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. [Malay Mail]

🇨🇳 Jaeger-LeCoultre appoints Chinese athlete Wang Shun as ambassador. The Swiss luxury watchmaker has tapped the Olympic swimming champion for his “approachable personality, refined yet recognisable style and hardworking ethics,” said CEO Catherine Rénier. [BoF Inbox]

🇦🇺 Australian babywear brand Love To Dream appoints new CEO. The brand founded by Hana-Lia Krawchuk and Gavin Krawchuk in 2008 and distributed at major retailers like Big W and David Jones has tapped Martin Matthews, the former CEO of fashion group APG & Co, to be its new leader. [Ragtrader]

🇨🇳 Kiehl’s taps China-born K-pop idol Song Yuqi as ambassador. The American beauty brand has partnered with the member of South Korean girl group (G)I-dle and is working with her to endorse a new product. [Jing Daily].

🇨🇳 Christian Louboutin taps Chinese actress Yang Mi as brand ambassador. The French luxury shoe brand has announced its partnership with the Beijing-born actress known for her roles in historical dramas and other genres. [BoF Inbox]

When Justine Schafer was deciding on where to open the flagship store of her family’s exotic skins accessories label Cape Cobra, a hip shopping block on Cape Town’s Bree Street was the clear choice back in 2019. Passing trade was instrumental in helping the South African company pivot from manufacturing ostrich leather handbags and crocodile leather wallets for global brands like Michael Kors and Tiffany, to launching its own collections designed with the local consumer in mind.

The private label was a strategic move by the company to keep trading amid a growing pushback in the fashion industry about the use of exotic skins which translated to fewer orders from international brands. Armed with over 50 years of expertise and a strong reputation in their field, the Schafer family was accustomed to steering the business through choppy waters. But they never anticipated that keeping it alive would one day require playing part-time electrician as their street dealt with rolling blackouts.

“At the height of our manufacturing business, we had pretty much produced every bag made with exotic leather found at Bergdorf Goodman,” said Schafer, Cape Cobra’s creative director. “Today one of our biggest challenges is how do we keep regular operations running without something as basic as reliable electricity.”

Schafer is just one of many South African fashion leaders trying to scale their businesses despite the country’s crumbling infrastructure.

Routine power cuts, known as load shedding, began in 2007 but have intensified in the last two years. Homes and businesses can now expect to go without electricity for up to 10 hours a day. Load shedding has resulted in the national economy losing approximately 300 billion rand ($16 billion) in 2022, according to estimates from banking group Investec. Last year, the energy crisis got so bad that President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a ‘state of disaster’. And last month, it caused the water taps to run dry in parts of Johannesburg for weeks during a heatwave.

On top of that, a ports and rail transport crisis centred around the country’s international trading hub, Durban, has been disrupting supply chains, increasing the cost of doing business and stoking inflation. Both crises are symptomatic of much wider economic, political and social malaise gripping the nation.

Company leaders must contend with a succession of policy failures by the government, corruption scandals and growing social unrest in the form of protests and violent crime. Those working with international partners also face “a different price everyday” due to currency volatility. Meanwhile, sky-high unemployment — reaching a rate of 33 percent, the worst in the world last year — has been described as a ticking time bomb for the country. Consumer confidence has plummeted.

The bleak picture is in stark contrast to the optimism of the early post-apartheid era and South Africa’s longstanding reputation as having the continent’s most advanced economy. The latest estimates for 2023 GDP growth are hovering around 0.6 percent. Economists in a recent Deloitte report have stated that the economy “remains under pressure going into 2024″, forecasting growth of just 1 percent this year.

‘Think Global, Act Local’

Despite the country’s many woes, the local fashion industry has outperformed the wider economy. In 2023, South Africa’s apparel and footwear market grew by 6 percent reaching $11 billion in sales, the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from Euromonitor International. In part, that can be attributed to the actions of many of the country’s industry leaders who have shown resilience, resourcefulness and global mindedness despite the many operational challenges they face.

“If we didn’t think globally, we wouldn’t even have a creative designer fashion industry in South Africa,” said Lucilla Booyzen, founder and chief executive of South African Fashion Week. “We’d be dressmakers at best, and at worst, we’d be reliant on imported second-hand clothing or we wouldn’t have an industry at all.”

Thanks to their cosmopolitan outlook, a wave of South African fashion designers has gained international recognition in recent years. In 2019, womenswear designer Thebe Magugu made history when he became the first recipient of the LVMH Prize from the African continent. In the following years, designers Sindiso Khumalo and Lukhanyo Mdingi, both based in Cape Town, have nabbed awards from the luxury conglomerate.

Collectively, the three designers have built a loyal client base beyond the continent through North American and European retailers like Bergdorf Goodman, Net-a-Porter, Ssense and Dover Street Market which stock them. Others have opened their own stores outside the country, such Laduma Ngxokolo, founder and creative director of MaXhosa Africa, whose New York boutique is scheduled to bow next month.

The South African designers who have built strong relationships overseas have at least one thing in common: they all draw on the country’s rich history and cultures. This, say insiders, is advantageous when competing for the attention of international retailers, media and investors.

“The old guard of South African designers didn’t take our South African DNA and aesthetic and funnel it into their own labels. In a sense, they were South African designers without a South African point of view,” said Ngxokolo. On the other hand, “it’s always a risk… using South African design elements and creating a cultural aesthetic without it having the association of what tourists would buy at the airport when they arrive here.”

Platforming Homegrown Talent

Designers like Ngxokolo mostly have themselves to thank for the successes they’ve had in the global luxury market. But industry leaders like Booyzen have also played a key role, communicating on the world stage that garments with bold, bright colours which chronicle cultural touchpoints of South Africa are, in fact, worthy of the same attention afforded to luxury labels in Europe and North America.

We are here to build businesses, not egos.

Since founding South African Fashion Week in 1997, Booyzen has launched numerous accelerator programmes to scout for new talent in the country while mentoring and providing financial support to designers like Mdingi and Mmuso Maxwell. To exhibit at fashion week, she said, designers must have “a strong design identity that is rooted in South African culture,” and meet stockist criteria.

“We are here to build businesses, not egos,” Booyzen said, adding that her organisation covers the production, marketing and overhead costs of staging a runway show. “With this platform, we have strict rules for who can participate, and money shouldn’t be a hindrance. But talent and business acumen is what sets designers apart.”

Another prominent figure in the South African industry, Precious Moloi-Motsepe, founder of Africa Fashion International, has also platformed local brands, both at numerous domestic and international events in her company portfolio.

People who train the next generation of design talent are keen to ensure that more locally relevant brands with global potential emerge in the years ahead. Fashion educational institutions like Stadio and Durban University of Technology are intentionally integrating the country’s history, heritage and knowledge of indigenous craft into their curricula in an effort to “decolonise fashion education,” said Kiara Gounder, a professor at DUT’s department of fashion and textiles.

Conversations about decolonising the institution began with questions of representation. DUT thought it important to move away from only endorsing Western knowledge and design concepts and to situate homegrown South African craftsmanship in the context of haute couture.

“We had to privilege our ways of knowledge and craftsmanship, not just so we can connect to our heritage and see ourselves in what we create but also as a means of survival in a volatile industry for young designers,” said Gounder. “The truth is [few] authentic African stories have [been] told and this is a way for our students to stand out in a global market.”

Because cultural authenticity is resonating with global audiences, South African creatives are increasingly sought after to provide new perspectives.

Trevor Stuurman, a Johannesburg-based photographer and stylist, was tasked with creating the visuals for singer Beyoncé's “Black Is King” album and has been commissioned by publications like US Vogue and GQ South Africa for his distinctly African portraiture of high-profile subjects including former US President Barack Obama and Naomi Campbell.

“There has always been this idea that creativity from Africa is inferior,” said Stuurman, whose visual language is reminiscent of the aesthetic movement of Afrofuturism. “But no one had actually taken a look at contemporary Africa and how much vigour, excellence and innovation exists here. It’s a shame that they haven’t because everything [else] we see has been done before and it’s getting quite stale.”

Harnessing Built-In Resilience

While South Africa has no shortage of design talent, manufacturing presents a challenge for many fashion startups.

South Africa’s garment and textile industry reached its peak in the 1980s. Having once been a cornerstone of the economy, its presence was dwarfed by competition from China and other countries. The globalisation of the supply chain has made it nearly impossible to find a luxury garment that bears the “Made in South Africa” label. Savvy designers are trying to change that.

“South Africa is not a luxury manufacturing destination,” said Ngxokolo. “Each and every manufacturer that we come across is either a mass production chain or it [has] a small batch production infrastructure that manufactures for the low-end market. I’ve learnt that in order to get what you want [here] you just have to build it yourself.”

As a South African designer, you basically have to move mountains and make miracles happen in order to operate a business.

To bring all manufacturing in-house and control key areas of the brand’s value chain, MaXhosa Africa acquired a factory in Johannesburg in 2018 which houses digital printing machines. Today the company employs 260 people.

Lezanne Viviers, the creative director of Viviers Studio, a womenswear brand based in Johannesburg, says recent supply chain issues and power cuts have forced her to be creative. The latter has incentivised her to invest in solar power, which she says has made her manufacturing more sustainable.

“As a South African designer, you basically have to move mountains and make miracles happen in order to operate a business,” said Viviers, whose five-year old label is now a fixture on the Milan Fashion Week calendar. “But it is possible. It just requires agility and being a problem-solver.”

In the face of international supply chain disruptions, designers have started leaning more on domestic partners. To supplement his manufacturing footprint in Italy and Turkey, Mdingi has partnered with Cape Town-based NGO Philani that specialises in hand weaving and printing and Johannesburg-listed retail stalwart The Foschini Group for cutting, sewing and tailoring expertise.

“If you have an international brand and you’re working with international suppliers, things aren’t always as affordable as you would like them to be, especially when the exchange rate keeps fluctuating,” said Mdingi, referring to the rand’s depreciation against key currencies like the dollar. “These expenses eat away at your margins, impact your pricing and hinder your ability to be profitable.”

Finding New Ways to Add Value

One area of the South African fashion industry that has suffered more than most is the local media sector. The global print media decline of the last 15 years been felt acutely in the publishing houses of Cape Town and Johannesburg as local conditions made an already challenging market environment even harder.

The last five years have seen the shuttering of Associated Media Publishing, the parent of the South African editions of Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, Caxton Media’s magazine arm and Khanyi Dhlomo’s publishing company Ndalo Media, which had acquired the local license to publish Elle magazine.

The issue that plagued South Africa’s magazine industry was having “too many titles competing for few eyeballs,” according to Kelly Fung, the former editor-in-chief of Elle South Africa. “South African magazines were struggling with differentiation, and you’d see the same personality on the cover and the same clothes across five publications.”

The few executives and editors who have survived the cull are putting plans in place to ensure the survival of their publications.

“Our publications have only recently pivoted to digital-first journalism, but we are recognising that we cannot stay still,” conceded Nontando Mposo, editor-in-chief of Glamour South Africa. “We have to be constantly innovating so we can reach our audiences.”

The South African iteration of the Condé Nast title no longer exclusively relies on advertising to generate revenue. It has expanded to the events space and has launched exclusive clubs designed to give readers a behind-the-scenes peek into the South African fashion industry.

The publication also made a shift from mostly syndicating content from the US or UK editions to producing local content covering the country’s growing fashion and entertainment industries. “The magazine is becoming a fashion staple for readers across the continent [beyond just South Africa],” said Mposo, noting that a recent cover featured Amapiano singer Tyla who has an increasingly pan-African fanbase.

Despite the changes having the desired effect of “digital readership ticking up”, according to Mposo, print circulation for Glamour South Africa declined 32 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to like-for-like figures in 2022, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa.

Paradoxically, the challenging media market has created opportunities for entrepreneurs like David Cohen, chief executive of Superbalist, a multi-brand e-commerce platform selling brands such as Calvin Klein and Nike, who recruited fashion editors like Fung from the declining magazine industry to create branded content for the retailer’s online publication. Interestingly, Fung has since been poached by Arc Store, South Africa’s answer to Sephora, as the local beauty retailer’s head of marketing.

But operating an international e-commerce business in South Africa comes with its own set of challenges. Last year, the company secured a deal with H&M to exclusively operate the fast fashion giant’s e-commerce platform in the country but, when the ports are in turmoil and no imported goods can arrive, Cohen and his team had to resort to heavily discounting out-of-season merchandise which ate away at the bottom line.

This has led the company to invest more resources and marketing into the private label brands Cohen launched in 2019. Apparel from Superbalist’s own brands is designed in-house and 80 percent of the garments are produced in the company’s manufacturing plant that it acquired in 2022.

“The real opportunity exists when you’re not just a department store offering logistics and customer service for other brands, but you’re creating equity for your own,” said Cohen. “[The private label brands] have created something of a moat for us … it de-risks us against global supply chain shocks and the current port crises in South Africa.”

Despite circumventing the ports crisis, Superbalist is not immune to a cost-of-living crisis fuelled by high inflation and routine power outages that force consumers to pay high costs for basic needs like food and electricity. This has opened a gap for low-cost China-founded rivals like Shein and Temu to swoop in and woo the South African consumer with less discretionary income to spend on clothing.

“It’s definitely tough,” said Cohen. “But we hope to keep our customers coming back because of our unique offering. We reflect them and hopefully we reflect South Africa.”

TikTok is trying to rein in the Ozempic hype.

The social media platform will effectively ban most weight loss-related content from appearing on its app starting next month, according to a sweeping new set of community guidelines published on its website last week. The app has become ground zero for weight-loss drug content, as patients looking for more information about popular medications such as Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound turn to social media for answers.

According to the new rules, the app will no longer allow the marketing of weight-loss products and will specifically restrict minors from viewing or sharing content that shows, describes and promotes “potentially harmful” weight management behaviors, including using weight-loss medications. The rules extend to sharing so-called “before-and-after” photos used to show the physical effects of a weight-loss transformation.

Creators, some who have racked up tens of thousands of followers posting content about drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity, say the broad set of restrictions will penalise a growing community keen to swap tips and find support for traditionally marginalised diseases.

Social media platforms, including TikTok, have faced backlash for letting weight-loss content proliferate seemingly unabated, just one of many concerns over how algorithms push potentially harmful content to younger users and do little to stop health misinformation from spreading. It’s not the first time TikTok, which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd., has attempted to crack down on weight-loss drug content. Users say enforcement has been inconsistent and that the new guidelines lack clarity about what is and isn’t allowed.

“This is 100% discrimination against people with obesity, people with type 2 diabetes, people with chronic conditions, people with health conditions,” Dave Knapp said Friday in a video posted to TikTok. Knapp regularly posts about news related to GLP-1 drugs and recently started a grassroots campaign urging Lilly to address shortages of its medications, including Mounjaro, which he takes to manage type 2 diabetes.

“If someone with multiple sclerosis goes on and starts talking about their medicine are you going to shut them down too?” Knapp said in an interview.

A TikTok spokesperson said that while the platform encourages open discussions on weight-loss drugs, obesity and related topics, the new guidelines are aimed at prohibiting content about disordered or dangerous eating and weight loss strategies.

Knapp and other creators said they support efforts to make TikTok safer by restricting content that may be harmful, such as the marketing of unapproved drug products. They pointed to videos hawking knock-off versions of Lilly’s experimental drug retatrutide that remain on the app. The drug is still in clinical trials and has not been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for review.

Kim Carlos, who’s been posting about obesity care and weight-loss drugs since 2022, said she’s never had an issue with TikTok before now. In the last week, any video that includes hashtags like #Ozempic, #Zepbound or even #GLP-1 are immediately flagged for review. Some have been taken down for violating community guidelines, she said, but TikTok has not given her specifics on how the videos have broken the rules.”The purpose is to help people,” Carlos said. She said she’s been careful to make sure her videos are about the health benefits of treating a chronic disease, and not just the number of pounds lost. Carlos also has started a podcast where she interviews doctors and even celebrity guests like Rosie O’Donnell. She worries about what the latest crackdown means for her ability to generate revenue for her podcast through livestreams and commission earned on TikTok’s e-commerce feature.

Carlos is now planning to try other sites, like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Clapper, a video-centric social media app that has been drawing new users as uncertainty around TikTok’s future looms.

“If this is how its going to be, where do we go?” she said.

Alexis Clingenpeel quit her job as a manager at a hotel last week to pursue TikTok full time. The 25-year-old, who had long struggled with obesity, grew a following on the app by posting about her own weight-loss journey. She later partnered with a telehealth company that prescribes the medications, which pays her to promote its services on the app. Clingenpeel said TikTok starting flagging and taking down her content this week, and she now lives in fear of getting permanently banned.

“TikTok is my livelihood and how I pay rent,” she said. “I could lose everything.”

Over the weekend, TikTok’s future in the US grew more uncertain. The House of Representatives voted Saturday to approve a foreign aid bill that includes legislation that would force ByteDance to divest ownership of TikTok or face a US ban. The Senate is expected to vote on the matter this week, and President Joe Biden has said he plans to sign it into law.

If the TikTok ban becomes law, ByteDance would have nearly a year to sell the app, though the company is expected to pursue all available legal challenges to it.

By Madison Muller

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TikTok Divest-or-Ban Bill Heads to Fast Track in US Congress

The effort to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd to divest its ownership of the social media platform would quickly become law under a plan outlined Wednesday by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The fashion industry’s era of so-called quiet luxury is over and affluent consumers will want bold designs again, the chairman of Valentino has predicted.

Rachid Mohamed Rachid said it will be “a new chapter” for Valentino after the Italian fashion house hired Alessandro Michele as its creative director last month.

Michele, Gucci’s former star designer, is known for his flamboyant and bohemian-chic designs, a sign that Valentino might move away from the minimalist and monochrome styles of his predecessor Pierpaolo Piccioli, who’s more associated with the “quiet luxury” trend that became popular after the pandemic.

“We know that in the last few years, there has been quiet luxury prevailing,” Rachid said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “My guess, like many others in fashion: this is going to be over.”

He said colors and bold designs will “come back with force and we are getting ready for that.”

Piccioli’s collections created buzz for their elegance and single-colored focus. Two years ago, the label unveiled an autumn and winter collection where all pieces were bright pink. At his last Paris Fashion Week show last month, Piccioli unveiled more than 60 looks with models donning only black pieces, with variations between embroidered and sheer lace dresses.

Valentino surprised the fashion world when it recruited Michele. Under his direction, Gucci sales almost tripled between 2015 and 2019 as his designs attracted younger generations and the company collaborated with other brands such as Adidas AG.

But when Covid-19 hit, sales at Gucci failed to keep up with its biggest rivals such as Louis Vuitton, and parent company Kering SA parted ways with the designer in late 2022.

Valentino is controlled by Qatar’s Mayhoola, but sold a 30 percent stake to Kering last year.

Rachid said conditions remain tough for luxury goods. “This year started with an expectation that the luxury markets will grow between 2 percent to 4 percent,” he said. “My personal feeling is that it will be much less than that — probably it will be flat. The reality is that Europe, the US is still very flat at the moment and China is still weak.”

Still, he said there are signs that a Chinese recovery could take hold in the second half of the year.

By Angela Feliciano and Angelina Rascouet

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The Logic Behind Valentino’s Alessandro Michele Appointment

The Rome-based couture house’s bet on Rome’s most bankable design talent could help it punch above its weight.

Colombian designer Nancy Gonzalez has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally smuggling millions of dollars of crocodile and snakeskin handbags into the US, according to a statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida Monday.

The designer, who has sold bags to celebrities like Britney Spears and Victoria Beckham and whose products were featured in the film “The Devil Wears Prada,” had previously pled guilty to the charges.

Her Colombia-based company Gzuniga Ltd was banned from selling any exotic-skin bags for next three years and ordered to forfeit all handbags and previously seized products.

Learn more:

Designer Nancy Gonzalez Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Exotic-Skin Designer Handbags

The Colombian designer faces up to 20 years in jail and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

This week, we are pleased to introduce two new partners on BoF Careers.

The Sarabande Foundation was launched in 2006 by the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, named after his Spring/Summer 2007 runway show of the same name. The charitable foundation offers financial aid to creatives aspiring to work in the fashion industry, by offering: scholarships to study at prestigious institutions in London; a subsidised mentoring programme; and a public programme of events for creatives across multiple disciplines. The foundation is hiring for a digital and marketing role in London, where the charity is based.

Irene Forte Skincare launched in 2018 and is made with natural ingredients from an organic farm in Sicily, reflecting the founder’s Italian heritage. The brand recently secured Series A investment from L-Catterton, a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm. The business has expanded into 15 spas (including four Irene Forte-branded spas) and is stocked by over 100 wholesalers globally, including Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and more. The brand is currently hiring for a sales intern / coordinator, based in New York.