Thread with care and help save the planet, say Africa Textile Talks producers

The fifth edition of Africa Textile Talks – the continent’s leading forum for debate and action on fashion, textiles and sustainability – will challenge delegates to imagine a future where garments are living expressions of care, repair and regeneration.

Tickets are on sale for the event at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town from 29–31 July, and co-producers Twyg (South Africa) and Imiloa Collective (Mauritius) say visitors can look forward to networking with leading designers, manufacturers and visionaries from Africa’s textile ecosystem.

The theme of the 2025 summit – Thread with Care – will also be reflected in a week-long exhibition of natural, innovative African fibres and textiles at Church House in Cape Town city centre, and Twyg founder Jackie May says it’s all about understanding the potential of the textile industry as a force for positive change.

“By sharing the work of industry pioneers, sustainability experts, practitioners and artisans, we can help shift the textile, craft and fashion sectors and influence a move towards more nature-friendly consumption and production,” she says. “Collective action is needed. No one person, brand or company can do it on their own.”

Priya Ramkissoon, the founder of Imiloa Collective, says the summit is an opportunity to help shape the future of African textiles and circular design, an approach that aims to eliminate waste and keep materials in use for as long as possible.

“We’ll be exploring ideas at the intersection of fashion, craft, culture, sustainability and the circular economy, aiming to build the growing African community of changemakers, and inspiring partnerships, creative solutions and long-term impact,” she says.

Reshaping the future

Africa Textile Talks 2025 begins on Tuesday 29 July with a day of conversations exploring how circular design, recycling systems and extended producer responsibility policies can reshape the future of fashion and textiles. Speakers and panellists will include:

• David Torr, co-founder of Faro, which sells the surplus stock and returned apparel of top fashion brands at reduced prices.
• Luleka Zepe from the Elamilina Environmental Project in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, who works through the Refashion Lab and other projects to repurpose waste fabric.
• Gary Erasmus, the managing director of Connacher, which turns waste from the clothing and textile industries into reusable fibre.
• Jesse Naidoo from Clothes to Good, which provides sustainable jobs and micro-business opportunities for people with disabilities through a clothing recycling programme.

Wool will be the focus on Wednesday 30 July, when farmers, processors, designers and retailers will discuss opportunities for greater traceability, the role of regenerative grazing, and new thinking about wool’s role in circular fashion. Speakers and panellists will include:

• Deon Saayman, the CEO of Cape Wools SA.
• Monica Ebert, The Woolmark Company’s business development (sports and performance) and sustainability manager in the Americas.
• Matthew van Lingen, a Karoo sheep farmer who uses regenerative practices to care for his land and livestock while producing premium fibre.
• Gugu Peteni, a luxury fashion designer who explores how wool’s legacy and local availability can combine with innovation and style.

The final day of conversations on Thursday 31 July will celebrate the diverse worlds of making and manufacturing textiles in Africa. Speakers and panellists will include:

• Maria Caley, a lecturer at the University of Namibia whose textiles are inspired by Kavango traditional baskets and other indigenous crafts.
• Muturi Kimani, the founder of Texfad in Uganda, which uses natural fibres from waste banana stems to produce textile yarns, carpets and fabrics.
• Wacy Zacarias from Mozambique, who uses her knowledge of medicinal indigenous plants to create natural dyes for her “healing textiles”.
• Danayi Madondo, a Zimbabwean fashion designer and textile artist whose creativity is rooted in regenerative materials and waste reduction.

African traditions

Curator of the Africa Textile Talks exhibition Tandekile Mkize says that in African traditions, cloth is more than a material. “It is a medium for storytelling, resistance and transformation. It holds the power to heal wounds – both personal and planetary. It can be designed and produced to nurture rather than deplete, to restore rather than pollute.

May says, “We invite designers, artists, artisans and thinkers to join us at Africa Textile Talks and reflect on how fabric can be a force for well-being, sustainability and renewal in a fractured world.”

• Africa Textile Talks is supported by the V&A Watershed, H&M Group, Faro, Fedisa, Cape Wools SA, Mohair South Africa and Polo South Africa. Tickets are available from Quicket.
• Media representatives wishing to attend should contact nobanzi@twyg.co.za