Dotted across northern Australia are 21 saltwater crocodile farms, home to around 130,000 crocodiles. Their skins are turned into crocodile leather, long sought for use in luxury handbags, belts and...
Features
Good Good Good takes Mekeka Designs barkcloth to Paris Fashion Week
At the Africa Textile Talks in August 2024, Ugandan textile experts Josephine Mukasa and Pamela Kyagera presented barkcloth—an indigenous and renewable Ugandan textile—to an audience of 200 in Cape...
5 Fashion creatives and their slow fashion commitments
Small shifts can have a big impact. Deciding to mend our clothing, shop secondhand, or breathe new life into the clothes we already own through clever styling are simple yet impactful ways to reduce...
Explainer: The politics of crochet couture
From haute couture and fast fashion to your grandmother's craft cupboard - crochet is everywhere right now. But it's not only crochet: quilting, lace, needlepoint and other sewing crafts are having...
Thobeka Mbane drives inclusive fashion with purpose and power
As a culture strategist and stylist, it’s without a doubt that Thobeka Mbane is a tastemaker. For over a decade, she’s had a hand in engineering some of the most iconic images of glitterati such as...
AI is bad for the environment, and the problem is not just about energy consumption
Artificial intelligence technologies, like chatbots, are attracting growing scrutiny for their voracious energy demands. However, energy consumption is only one part of their broader environmental...
Green your fashion with GOTS
In an ideal world, all fashion and textiles should have positive impacts on people and planet. The production of fibres and fabrics should not harm soil health, water, biodiversity, and people....
44 Stanley is a beloved hub for conscious shopping
A little more than two decades ago a collection of scruffy 1930s light industrial buildings in Johannesburg were converted into a creative and business hub. When Brian Green founded 44 Stanley in...
Explainer: What fast food and fast fashion have in common
Fast food and fast fashion have more in common than you think. Both thrive on convenience and low prices but leave behind a trail of harm for our bodies, the planet, and workers. The good news?...
My new dark red climate stripe for 2024 shows it’s the hottest year yet
The data is in. 2024 was the warmest year on record, and probably in the whole of human history – about 1.6°C warmer than the period before widespread industralisation. More than 1 billion...
Sage & Sunday’s holistic approach to garment making
Sage & Sunday embraces an ‘ultra-transparency’ approach, evident from the design of its flagship store in Woodstock, Cape Town. A wooden slatted wall separates the retail space from the...
The living fashion history of the Kaapse Klopse
For over a century, the streets of Cape Town have become an explosion of song, dance and colourful costumes on the 2nd of January. Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Afrikaans for 'Second New Year') is an annual...
How to make your loved clothes last
There is a reason for the slow fashion movement refrain that “the most sustainable clothes are the ones you already own”. Taking care of your clothes is one of the best ways to limit your fashion...
Q&A: Abasiekeme Ukanireh of Éki Kéré reimagines sustainable fashion with raffia
Meet Abasiekeme Ukanireh, founder and creative director of Éki Kéré. The Nigerian brand was founded in 2020 to challenge, transform and redefine fashion stereotypes while embracing African heritage...
Why secondhand markets and apps are not a solution to clothing waste
In theory, apps for selling secondhand clothes such as Yaga offer an opportunity to be both thrifty and fashionable. Good news for shoppers worried about rising costs and the sustainability of...