In pursuit of promoting public-private exchange, The French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) has partnered with the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) to provide a forum for experts who represent various fashion subsectors in South Africa to explore topics that pertain to the current state of South Africa’s fashion value chain.
Some of the dialogues to be discussed include Fashion Forward: Industry Development Dialogue, where local and international industry experts discussed a possible way to forge collaborations to support local businesses in fashion and provide sector-specific input into the implementation of the South African Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) Master Plan and support network development and cooperation between the French and South African industries.
Arnaud Roux, Deputy Head of Mission at the French Embassy in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi, emphasised the importance of giving creative and cultural industries a platform as they are the key contributors to the economic and social development of South Africa.
The partnership also aims to focus on developing a deeper understanding of the South African fashion value chain and how to better assist those struggling to build businesses in the sector.
“Bringing stakeholders together in an intentional way will deepen understanding of the needs of the sector and begin to chart the way forward for South Africa’s fashion sector to work together to grow local businesses,” said Dr Cynthia Stella Khumalo, Acting Director-General at DSAC.
“The creative industries contribute more than 3% to our GDP and employ many young people, people with disabilities and people in the informal economy and yet there is a need for more support.
“In their ongoing work with the cultural and creative industries, DSAC has previously successfully convened multi-stakeholder dialogues in the animation and gaming sectors that aim to inform policy and drive development,” she added.