Held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), this premier textile, leather, and fashion sourcing exhibition featured over 100 exhibitors across various categories, including leather goods, accessories, textiles, and sustainable innovation. Organised by Messe Frankfurt South Africa, the event emphasised African creativity, international sourcing, and sustainable development.
The event aims to attract professionals from across the globe, fostering vibrant networking opportunities for manufacturers, industry associations, organisations, SSMEs, and high-end designers to connect, exchange ideas, and collaborate.
The opening program of the event was marked by a significant ceremonial ribbon cutting, a symbol of the event's official commencement. The ribbon was cut by Michael Dehn of Messe Frankfurt South Africa, Tang Chang'an, Chinese Deputy Consul, George Zhang of CCPITTex, Faith Kolala, Manager of Growth Coalition - City of Cape Town, and Mark Goliath of IDC. This act, led by Mr. Michael Dehn, officially opened the event, signifying the beginning of three days of vibrant networking and collaboration.
The show features a diverse range of categories, including fabrics, leather, fashion, components and accessories, technologies and innovation, sustainability, fashion accessories, textile care, services, home textiles and décor, and a young designer’s competition, among others. Fashion shows, trend talks, and panel discussions focus on sustainability, supply chain localisation, and circular fashion, adding to the excitement and intrigue of the event.
In line with its strategy to promote growth in intra-trade in Africa, the Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) has supported four Export-ready leather and leather products manufacturers to participate in the fair, aiming to develop collaborations in areas of production, technology, and intra-trade growth in Africa. The platform also provides valuable opportunities for cross-learning among participants, emphasising the value of knowledge exchange in the industry.
ALLPI's presence at the event is a testament to its strategic mission. It is dedicated to promoting value addition and trade in the African leather chains, a strategic goal that informs and guides its activities.
The ALLPI booth was selected for a high-level visit through a rigorous and fair process, ensuring equal opportunities for all participants. This visit provided an excellent platform for ALLPI to showcase its scope of work and the impacts it has delivered over the years. Visitors learnt that ALLPI has delivered leather value chain strategies, equipped SME Clusters, built capacity in product design, development, and production, and facilitated intra-trade to more than 3,000 enterprises across Africa. This has contributed to improved productivity, product quality, and intra-African trade.
