This webinar will include a panel of designers, who will explore what it takes to start a business and grow it into a sustainable entity. Hear some of the lessons learnt from these businesses, as well as the trials, tribulations, and opportunities they encountered along the way. Some of the questions the panellist will explore include; How to go about setting prices and managing cashflow? how do you market your brands? How Do you distribute products?
Speakers:
Cyril Naicker – Fashion Revolution
Cyril Naicker has represented South Africa at the United Nations panel discussion on sustainable fashion. He is the Country Coordinator of Fashion Revolution South Africa. He is the Chief Executive at Imprint Luxury and Chief Sustainability Executive at Plain Tiger and wrote their Sustainability Accelerator Program.
Betina Swart - Me&B
The mother-daughter fashion brand, made right here in the mother city! Betina and Kelly founded this brand with a strong belief that the fashion industry deserved a shake-up - and that our team of South African designers and craftsmen could be just the people to deliver that 'something different.' In 2018 we gathered a team of experts who had studied fashion intently and knew all the rules but also had the right amount of confidence and creativity to be able to deliver something completely new and fresh.
Tasked with proving that high-quality, fashion-forward clothing could be available at fair prices, we created piece after piece that is testament to our passion for making fashion more accessible to all. We see that same excitement, comfort and belief reflected in the eyes of every woman who tries on a Me&B piece.
Shane Biegnaar - E Commerce Consultant – The Business Media
Shane Biegnaar has spent the past 10 years working with startup and retail ecommerce brands in South Africa. Shane Biegnaar has spent multiple years working on the retail buying and merchandise aspects working with brands such as Edgars, Sportscene and Stuttafords across Footwear, Apparel and Accessories. In the last few years the focus and passion has been on building, launching and scaling ecommerce brands in which he assists in customer acquisition, customer conversion and customer retention strategies using paid media across Facebook, Instagram and Google. Recently he has worked with local brands such as CODE, Walk Fresh SA and also Skinny Sbu Socks.
His recent success project was working with the setup, development and growth strategy with a SA Retail Group with the directive to launch, grow and scale their eCommerce division across the Group. Within 12 months since launch, have managed to to generate over R12.5 million ($781 000) in sales and online turnover. This included but not limited to strategy development, marketing campaign development, data analysis across social media, digital marketing, SEO, customer acquisition, traffic generation, retention and conversion rate optimization.
Janine Starkey - CEO of Tweak n Style
House of Janine is headed up by Janine Starkey, who studied fashion design at the London International School of Fashion, qualifying with an International Higher Diploma in Fashion Design and Technology. Janine spent the first five years of her career working at the popular South African soap opera Egoli as Head of the Wardrobe Department. Having learned valuable experience in the art of styling and how it can create and shape a character, Janine decided to shift her focus to help real men and women looking to find their own image and feel comfortable in their own style. House of Janine opened its doors in 2004 and developed into Tweak ‘n Style.
During the pandemic Janine had to diversify. In 2020 was the launch of the Fashion Academy. A 3- month academy which takes individuals with no design ability and teaches them the process of developing a clothing label from sketch to store. Janine has successfully developed 9 ranges to date.
Nokwazi Mzobe - Founder of Matoyana
Nokwazi Mzobe is passionate about developing businesses and business leaders in Africa. Her work allows her to develop aspiring business leaders; cultivate entrepreneurial thinking; develop and empower individuals and promote a culture of intrapreneurial, innovative and creative thinking. She is an entrepreneur, adjunct-lecturer, podcaster and the author of the Small Business Handbook. She is always looking for areas to create, inspire and empower.