BUSINESS partners Lungi Sokhulu and Robin Broider have a vision that their fashion accessories will become an icon on the world stage — and they are realising that dream one small export order at a time.
Sokhulu is a talented, determined young woman hailing from the impoverished Gamalakhe township on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.
Broider is an elderly white woman whose background is the virtual opposite of the one experienced by her business partner, yet their handbags, baskets and bowls are already raising eyebrows in international circles.
A qualified fashion designer, Sokhulu, together with her husband Dimitri, has developed processes by which to convert old newspapers and newsprint into fashion and décor items under the brand name Back2Life — and is using the concept to create employment in her home town of Gamalakhe, where jobs are sadly lacking, while also contributing to the environment.
Last year, Sokhulu won the KwaZulu-Natal regional finals of the SAB KickStart Entrepreneurial Development Programme, which focuses on bolstering sustainable enterprises to translate into job creation and poverty alleviation and has now attracted corporate interest for commissions to supply products.
Back2Life is a member of Tradepoint SA Durban, through which its products have been exported to Reunion and Bordeaux in France, and through which Sokhulu has been offered an opportunity to show products at the Chicago-based Festival of African Arts alongside representatives from Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal.
The two women are also investigating the opportunity of attending the New York International Gift Fair and will attend the Southern African International Trade Exhibition, Saitex, in Johannesburg this month.
Broider believes that five years hence, Back2Life will be exporting its recycled newspaper products to the UK, the rest of Europe and the US as it captures a growing niche in fashion boutiques and the market increasingly demands environmentally friendly goods.
But Sokhulu and Broider also believe their business model has the potential for being widely replicated across rural SA. The KickStart win raised the company’s profile sufficiently to secure financial assistance from the Business Partners Khulu Start-up Fund to grow the business to match corporate demands.
The Gamalakhe facility employs 40 rural women who are securing training and skills while working. However, unlike many rural craft projects where the crafters earn only on their output, Back2Life guarantees an income for the hours invested.
“The business is no longer focusing on small, but targeting opportunities for the broader local market via agents in Johannesburg and Cape Town,” Broider says. “The ability to incorporate company logos into our designs paves the way for capturing a slice of the corporate market, after which the next logical step is a determined drive into the American and European fashion markets — and the opportunity to roll out production facilities throughout the country.”
The broader picture encompasses expanding Back2Life — franchising is one option — into other rural areas where each studio will employ 40 people. The single studio set-up costs amount to R150000, but according to Business Partners business analyst Sherwyn Pillay, that investment can become a valuable contributor to South African economic growth, given that the partners aim to establish 10-15 studios nationally within five years.
“Business Partners recognises the value in growing small businesses while demonstrating a willingness to accept higher levels of risk than commercial banks when financing start-up ventures,” Pillay says. “SA thrives on innovations like the Back2Life project and in harnessing that potential, we can create wealth and economic growth, particularly in rural areas.”