07 January 2015<\/p>\n
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/b><\/p>\n
FIRST SOUTH AFRICAN MENSWEAR WEEK CONFIRMED<\/strong><\/p>\n The first South African Menswear Week will take place in Cape Town, South Africa from 04 to 07 February 2015. \u00a0 Featuring 24 of South Africa\u2019s leading menswear designers over three days of runway shows, SA Menswear Week is the first mens focussed fashion platform in Africa.<\/p>\n With over two years of development, discussions with designers and the industry, SA Menswear Week has positioned itself as the platform for menswear to take centre stage.\u00a0 SAMW will take place twice a year to showcase the Spring\/Summer and Autumn\/Winter collections.\u00a0 The line-up for February is really the current who’s who of South African menswear designers.\u00a0 For February the designer selection ranges from emerging designers such as Rich Mnisi, Jenevieve Lyons, and upcoming Lukhanyo Mdingi, through to established heavyweights such as Craig Port, CSquared, and Shaldon Kopman\u2019s Naked Ape.<\/p>\n Founder of SA Menswear Week, Ryan Beswick said \u201cIt\u2019s not only about providing and building a platform where designers can showcase their collections, but providing a sound business case with marketing and promotion opportunities for designers to grow their businesses\u201d. \u00a0 This business and media focussed approach aims to work alongside designers showcasing, by building their brands and labels, and not only selling more due to increased exposure, but also help in business growth and creating employment.<\/p>\n As part of the international menswear federation, SAMW is similar to the smaller, more intimate venues that only seat around 200 to 250 guests as seen at platforms such as London Collections: Men or Pitti Uomo in Italy, SA Menswear Week puts the clothing centre stage.\u00a0 Guest lists are slimmed down to have the media, buyers and designer guests fill the seats, and sit right on the catwalk, close to the action, with dedicated seats available for public tickets.\u00a0 It hopefully ushers in a new era for fashion in South Africa.<\/p>\n Beswick also commented on how technology is going to play a pivotal role in the event,\u00a0 \u201cFrom live streaming to live social media, we\u2019ve also embraced fitness tracking of models, and pushing our designers and producers to go digital where possible, eliminating wasteful printing, also reducing time to reach key industry role players.\u201d<\/p>\n South African Menswear Week will release the final designer schedule on Monday 12 January 2015, and tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday 16 January 2015 through Webtickets.<\/p>\n \/ ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:<\/strong><\/p>\n SA Menswear Week PR<\/p>\n media@menswearweek.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n Conversation Capital<\/p>\n Danelle Milward \u00a0 +27.21.422.2342<\/p>\n NOTES TO EDITORS:<\/strong><\/p>\n About South African Menswear Week:<\/strong><\/p>\n South African Menswear Week is the first dedicated mens fashion platform in Africa.\u00a0 Focussed solely on menswear designers and accessories, SAMW showcases the leading menswear designers twice annually.\u00a0 The first week is taking place in Cape Town, South Africa on 04 to 07 February 2015. \u00a0 Menswear is the biggest growth area in fashion, and SAMW is perfectly situated to develop and grow the sector by providing a world class platform for designers to develop their brands. \u00a0 24 of South Africa\u2019s top menswear labels will showcase over 3 days in February.<\/p>\n All designers and creatives are available for interviews.\u00a0<\/strong> We also have multiple angles and interest pieces on menswear, design, global trends, the business of menswear, and more, available to all journalists and editors covering SAMW.<\/p>\n There is also a full high-res image library at http:\/\/ramp.sdr.co.za\/1502SAMW\/<\/b><\/a>\u00a0 updated immediately after shows, and in the run up to the event.<\/p>\n