How do you feel about buying local brands?

When it comes to buying clothes, I always thought that the store where I bought it from mattered more than the actual place that it was manufactured. Because I thought that a well-known store would obviously only sell things that are of good quality and therefore I did not have to think of where the actual cloth was made. But a few years ago when I started following the fashion world and when I started getting to know which brands are of good quality and how the price differs depending on the different type of brands or where it was manufactured, I realised that it’s not just about the store’s name as I had thought previously.

The main essence of the fashion world is based on brands, because in the fashion world if your brand has had a bad reputation, then no matter how sweet you name the new collection everyone is still going to regard your clothes as of bad quality. So most designers do put an emphasis on how they portray their brands and where it has been manufactured because that’s going to determine their sale. Ever heard someone say that this item was made by an Italian designer and manufactured in Italy so therefore it must be of really good quality?

Good quality brands don’t come cheap and I have spoken to many people over the years who claim that they would rather buy an international brand than a local brand because it is much cheaper. To a degree they are probably right and that is because due to what we see in the media. We tend to want to buy the brands that are constantly being featured on the television and those are brands from overseas, making it hard for local brands to strive and also South African brands are not featured on televisions as often as they should.

Our labour laws also don’t make it easy for South African designers to manufacture their things locally and are then forced to get them done overseas which also impacts on cost making things become expensive and then sold at a higher price. But if we were to support local brands more often, then those items would not be so expensive. What’s more important to note is that South African brands that are made locally are actually good quality and last longer than most of their counterparts.

The more we support local brands, the more space we open up for up and coming designers to showcase their talent in the fashion world. And therefore put South Africa on the map to competing against other international brands. This week one of our lucky Trendi readers will be walking in style with a bucket hat from a local designer called Opit in support of South African brands as well as other goodies. All you have to do is read Just Trendi blogs, send us a picture of you looking stylish and answer a very easy question.

Question: In which blog did we mention the word ‘Marsala’?
#Hint: check February blogs! To enter, please email your answer to phoebe@fundza.co.za together with your picture. The competition closes on Thursday 21 May.

Written by Phoebe Sibomana

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