What factory raids reveal about South Africa’s clothing industry
Factory raids in KwaZulu-Natal and court cases have exposed the rot, but what are the solutions?
Tag: textiles
From leather to trade cloth: Namibian indigenous aesthetic politics in textiles
Maria Caley's presentation at the 2025 Africa Textile Talks
Wool, land and people of Morocco
These photos by Pierre Girardin show how craft, climate, and community are inseparable
Here is why the circular economy needs to be just
The circular economy offers a fresh approach to how we produce and consume, focusing on reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering. It moves us away from the traditional “make, use, discard” model, creating a more sustainable system to balance the needs...
There is soft power in contemporary textile art
Every time I visit the Investec Cape Town Art Fair, I make it my mission to seek out the textile art. In earlier years I had to hunt for these pieces, most of which were woven. More recently, however, I’ve...
Join us for the first Slow Fashion Festival in Cape Town
Along with our partners the V&A Watershed, we’re hosting our first Slow Fashion Festival in Cape Town. Join us on 17 August from 10am – 4pm for a day of slow fashion experiences (and some music and dancing) at the...
Why fashion needs extended producer responsibility regulations
How extended producer responsibility regulations shift accountability to producers, encouraging sustainable and circular practices.
Designer Bubu Ogisi unmasks truths about African fabrics
In utilising waste materials, a product of an overly consumptive and decadent culture, designer Bubu Ogisi addresses colonialism and imperialism as evil spirits.
How common threads transform narratives in the Middle East
Textiles and fashion emerge as unexpected yet potent agents for positive change in the context of Israel and Palestine, where tensions have endured for generations. Clothing often extends beyond superficial aesthetics, evolving into influential instruments for storytelling and social transformation....
How nature informs the artisans of Madagascar
Artisans from Madagascar do not boast about their sustainability practices; for them, it is simply the only way to create. Before the term ‘slow fashion’ was coined and upcycling was on-trend, Malagasy craftsmen had long lived by the phrase tsy...
Artist Gina van der Ploeg connects textiles to land
For Cape Town-based textile artist, Gina van der Ploeg, textiles are not an end in themselves. Instead, she honours the entire process of making textiles by exploring the different parts of the textile supply chain in her art. “It’s crazy...
The Fold reveals and preserves fashion heritages
African textile heritages hold clues to how we can change fashion and disrupt stereotypes. “African fashion is interwoven with values of ancient principles such as sustainability, respect, culture, and knowledge that couldn’t be more crucial in modern times,” says Durban-based...