Trade Hub Supports Lesotho Denim and Textile Garment Manufacturer to Recapture US Market

‘Sourcing at Magic’ is North America’s largest, most comprehensive garment/fashion sourcing event, featuring more than 800 apparel, accessories and footwear firms. SATH supported Formosa Textiles, a Lesotho denim and textile garment manufacturer, to exhibit at the Sourcing element of Magic, which exposed the company to hundreds of sourcing executives, designers, merchandising managers and private label buyers. Just one month after the trade event, Formosa is already negotiating with Los Angeles based company Seven Seas, which is currently sourcing jeans from Kenya. Formosa hopes that Seven Seas will designate its Lesotho made denim fabrics as the fabrics with which its jeans must be made. Furthermore, SATH will facilitate introductions between US buyers and appropriate manufacturers from the region as a result of contacts made at Magic.

Sourcing at MAGIC initiated SATH’s SOURCE Africa 2012 marketing campaign in the US and provided the opportunity to showcase our regional factory catalogue to US buyers. A significant number of US representatives were unaware of specific production levels, capabilities and capacities of Southern African factories. Still, there were some sophisticated buyers that had seen competitors sourcing from Africa and were interested in learning about the various sourcing and production opportunities in the region. The country and investment reports and chief value synthetic (CVS) garment activities that SATH will produce will inform buyers of the manufacturing capabilities in Southern Africa, and unveil products and buyers that could benefit from manufacturing CVS garments in Southern Africa.