FASHION REVOLUTION
South Africa

Cyril Naicker is a sought-after fashion consultant, mentor and influencer in the South African fashion space. He is often called upon to speak at events or write for prominent international fashion publications such as Glamour and Elle. A fashion Designer by qualification, he has spent the last twenty years working in almost every aspect of the fashion industry. He has built an exceptional reputation for his ethical stance on fashion and has become one of the trailblazers leading the sustainable fashion movement in South Africa.  Cyril currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Imprint Luxury. He is a founding member of Fashion Revolution Cape Town and is currently the Country Coordinator for Fashion Revolution South Africa. https://twitter.com/cyrilnaicker

Jessica Ramoshaba is the Founder and Creative Director of Fouura, which is a sustainable styling boutique offering sustainable style solutions towards maximising and recycling their wardrobe. Host of The Wardrobe Shift Podcast, former fashion editor for True Love Magazine, fashion and beauty contributor for Forbes Woman Africa.  She is a style expert and fashion speaker. She holds a fashion honours degree from Lisof and currently a master’s degree candidate in sustainable fashion with University of Johannesburg.  Her fashion career took off in London and Dubai. She has been in the fashion industry for over 10 years. She has styled covers for glossies and editorial pages of magazines such as Forbes Woman Africa, Bona magazine, Dubai based publications Emirates Woman and Harpers Bazaar Arabia. Jessica now works with reputable companies in a variety of industries as a style expert, fashion speaker and moderator such as Country Road, Skip Fashion Exchange, FNB discussing topics such as tying the link between fashion and investments for a modern woman; and presenting sustainable collections etc. She has walked the runway at the Hospice Night of Style 2019 in the category of women in media who are making an impact.  Jessica thoroughly enjoys her high teas and travelling as a result of being an expat in London, Dubai and Japan. 

Safiyya completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town in 2017. She studied a BSocSci in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, which she graduated with a distinction. She then completed her BCom Honours in 2018 in Economics. Her honours thesis was on the topic of decolonisation of the economics curriculum at South African universities. Her paper was entered and presented at the Economics Society of South Africa (ESSA) conference in 2019. Throughout her academic studies, she also enrolled in short courses at the Cape Town College of Fashion Design so that she could learn to sew and make clothing.

The Joinery is a sustainable and ethical product design and lifestyle brand. Founded by two sustainable designers and sisters in business together, Natalie and Kim Ellis. The Joinery’s focus is on finding solutions to environmental and community issues through design. “We create local, sustainable products and conceptualise responsible fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles, as a way to positively contribute to furthering innovation in the textile economy, turning potential waste into something positive. ”’ All the products are made by local artisans and sewing co-operatives based in and around informal settlements in Cape Town – and as such its initiatives contribute directly to job creation. The Joinery uses a mix of traditional techniques and high quality contemporary design. We design our products to be produced by hand as much as possible so as to minimize our carbon footprint. Our partnerships create opportunities, contribute to economic independence & raise awareness of the importance of supporting local businesses that can sustain communities. Our name, The Joinery, is based on our founding principles to collaborate with artisans, designers and businesses to create designs that promote sustainability.

Jackie May is the founding editor of Twyg, a platform promoting and exploring sustainable living. She has worked in media organisations producing content for print, digital and television, in the UK and South Africa for more than 25 years. Before founding Twyg, Jackie edited the South African edition of MARIE CLAIRE and the Cape edition of the national newspaper, The Times. Jackie grew up on farms in the Western Cape and has lived in a small coastal town in Namibia, cosmopolitan Paris, London and Johannesburg. In Cape Town, she surfs in the Indian Ocean, takes early morning dips in the Atlantic and long walks on the mountain. Jackie holds an MA in Philosophy from the University of London and is currently studying at the Sustainability Institute in Stellenbosch.

 

Liandra's passion for Textile Design was born in a 6th Form College art studio in Essex, just over a decade ago. The thrill of print making, had her hooked immediately. The lecturer at the time, looked at the results of her experimental print making and said "would you ever consider a career in textiles?" Little did either of them know, how this effect my personal trajectory. Shortly after this encounter, Liandra embarked on a gap year, traveling through Europe and Africa. I never returned to the UK. The diversity of South Africa appealed to my senses. 

She joined the Fine and Applied Arts Department at Tshwane University of Technology, graduating with a B-Tech in Textile Design and Technology in 2012. In 2014 she was recruited by the Mr. Price Group to join one of their in-house textile design teams. This brought her to Durban, where she has been living very happily for the past four years. With time, and more exposure to the industry, the more her inclination to better it has also grown. Design in essence is problem solving and Liandra is passionate about solving the problems of the textile industry. Both those that are harmful to the environment and unjust to the people who live alongside and work within it. Armed with skills in curation and a natural inclination for project management coupled with years of knowledge in the textile industry, she is well positioned to affect such change day by day. 

Jasper Eales, Co-founder of Sealand Gear is the imaginative mind behind the brand, he drives the brands’ focus to achieve refined, practical solutions, which are designed to last. Sealand Gear is a company rooted in Cape Town’s southern peninsula where mountains and ocean so vividly connect, Sealand was born with a conviction of keeping the environment front and centre alongside inspired functional designs and longevity. Smart material selection, compelling functionality and product durability are all palpable features of what we make.  

Paige Marie Garbutt, a Durban based Fashion Designer, is passionate about ethics and sustainability. She spent some of her childhood living on an Alpaca farm where her parents spun natural alpaca wool. Since, she has graduated with Cum Laude for a National Diploma in Fashion Design and is continuing in this field of education at Durban University of Technology. Paige aims to create sustainable womenswear collections that she hopes will inspire designers and consumers to make choices which will positively impact the environment and society.

Sumaiya De' Mar is a Cape Town based advocate and Director of SA Fashion Law. Sumaiya has an LLB (Law) degree with seven distinctions, specialising in Intellectual Property and Media Law. She comes from a strong fashion and legal background, and after spending several years working in both fields, Sumaiya has combined her two passions to pioneer Fashion Law in South Africa; offering a bespoke legal service tailored to the fashion industry. She also aims to tackle legal and ethical issues as Director of Fashion Law and Ethics for Fashion Revolution SA where she will investigate ethical issues from a legal perspective.

Tamburai Chirume is the Director and Co-Founder of ONEOFEACH, a Cape Town fashion based mother and daughter design duo focusing on preserving the African heritage through designing beautiful contemporary African fashion items. Tamburai comes from a strong  fashion retail and styling background, having worked with major fashion magazines such as Elle Bulgaria, and studied Consumer Science in Retail Fashion Management. She then joined the banking world of Wealth and Investments which has helped her conceptualize their ONEOFEACH dream to become a business reality. Tamburai strongly believes in being an agent of change in a world where we are constantly pressurised to forget and ultimately let go of our heritage and culture.  – “We need to know where we come from to know where we are going “Ashanti Proverb

Codesigner of Lalesso, founded with Alice Huesser. Lalesso was formed by co-designers Olivia Kennaway and Alice Heusser after a holiday to Lamu Island off the north coast of Kenya. Both Olivia and Alice are children of Africa and have been wrapped in its beautiful fabrics since birth. After studying fashion design together in Cape Town the pair were impelled to harness the magical beauty of the East African ‘khanga’, also known as ‘lesso’ to create vibrant and care free summer fashion. Lalesso carbon offsets through the company CO2 Balance, an award winning and dedicated company that not only uses it’s effort to make an impact on the environment but also takes measures to make a social impact on East African communities.