The BRICS+ Fashion Summit in Moscow drew retailers, investors and industry representatives from more than 60 countries, and it came with a clear commercial problem on the table: African designers are winning attention on runways and at cultural showcases, but that exposure is not converting into shelf space, steady sales or access to international buyers. Speaking at the summit, Soweto Fashion Week’s Manzini urged retailers, boutiques and international partners to work more closely with designers to open new routes to market for emerging brands.
The event was structured as a marketplace rather than a showcase. Its business programme focused squarely on the economics of the trade: production costs, access to retail channels and the requirements for entering foreign markets. Manzini positioned it as a new commercial platform for emerging fashion economies. “The BRICS+ Fashion Summit is creating a new global platform where emerging fashion markets can connect, collaborate and do business,” he said, adding that it moves the conversation beyond traditional fashion capitals and gives countries like South Africa a chance to contribute to the global fashion agenda.
For Manzini, the gap between cultural visibility and retail presence is the industry’s central challenge. The diversity celebrated at fashion events, he argued, should be reflected in everyday stores where consumers can actually buy clothing that expresses local identity. But the cost structure works against young brands. Establishing a standalone store is expensive, and that capital burden is precisely what keeps many designers out of physical retail.
One South African retailer has built a business model around lowering that barrier. Colleen Eitzen, co-founder of the retail chain The Space, described an arrangement in which the company stocks independent designers’ collections and takes a commission on sales. Brands gain access to physical retail without carrying the fixed costs of operating their own outlets, while the retailer earns revenue by acting as a distribution partner rather than a landlord. The model also generates commercial intelligence: real-time sales data, Eitzen noted, helps designers see which styles, colours and sizes are moving, so they can adjust production to demand more quickly. Sales consultants cultivate relationships with regular customers and alert them when new pieces from designers they follow arrive in store. In effect, the retailer supplies more than shelf space; it provides sales insights, customer relationships and a testing ground where independent brands can develop their products. For South African designers looking to scale, such arrangements offer an alternative to the substantial investment a standalone presence would demand.
International expansion carries its own cost barriers. Brian James Kihindas, director of Nairobi Fashion Week and the Kenya Fashion Council, pointed to the price of certification and the administrative load of compiling the production data required for international trade. Smaller brands frequently lack the resources to navigate different markets’ compliance rules, which limits their ability to export even where demand exists. His proposed remedies were institutional rather than promotional: greater cooperation between countries, regional product-testing laboratories and support to help designers understand export market requirements, all designed with the financial and operational constraints of small businesses in mind. For African fashion brands, the constraint is not only design or manufacturing capability but the cost of meeting market-specific requirements and getting products to international buyers.
Competition at home compounds the pressure. Nana Addo Tamakloe, founder and CEO of Accra Fashion Week in Ghana, argued that large-scale imports of second-hand clothing make it hard for local producers to compete on price, while designer garments remain affordable mainly to higher-income consumers. That squeeze makes access to international markets a significant growth opportunity for brands seeking customers beyond their domestic base. Yet expansion demands more than runway exposure: commercially viable production models, distribution access, the ability to meet market requirements and retailer relationships that put collections in front of consumers.
Meanwhile, the summit has already produced tangible commercial connections, according to Manzini, who said participation in Moscow helped Soweto Fashion Week establish business relationships with colleagues and retailers from Brazil and Sri Lanka. The African contingent was broad, including Mahlet Teklemariam of Ethiopia’s Hub of Africa Fashion Week, Mmantlha Sankoloba of the Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association, Kalistu Ramos Mukoroli of Namibia’s MTC Windhoek Fashion Week, Rick Anderson of Mauritius Fashion Festival Week and Tery Carola of Seychelles Fashion Week. Their presence reflected the range of markets and industry structures across the continent, and the potential for deeper cooperation among fashion organisations, manufacturers and retailers.
Stronger regional and international networks could, in time, help designers exchange expertise, build retail relationships and navigate export markets. The harder task, and the one that will determine returns on all this convening, is converting connections into repeat orders, sustainable distribution and long-term commercial growth. The discussions in Moscow point to a broader requirement for the industry: African fashion needs routes to market that extend beyond fashion weeks and showcase events. For South Africa, that means building stronger links between the country’s design talent and the retailers, production partners and international buyers who can help local brands grow. The opportunity is not simply to raise the visibility of African fashion, but to ensure consumers can buy it, and that the businesses behind it have the commercial infrastructure to keep producing it.