The big catwalk: Show and sell time

How has South African fashion transformed in the 18 years that SA Fashion Week has been held?

It's grown from a garage industry into a full-blown retailing industry. There are 950 boutiques interested in stocking South African designers' work. The Fashion Agent, which links designers and buyers, is selling to 95 boutiques. In 1997, only 2% of the designers who showed their collections at SA Fashion Week had stores or supplied stores. This season, 100% of the designers who show collections are in retailing, either supplying stores or as store owners.

How do you select which designers are included in the fashion week?

We don't select the designers. They make a marketing decision to show their collection. The only restriction is that a designer cannot show if he does not supply stores, have his own store, or sell at a market or online.

What advice do you have for up-and-coming designers?

Research, research, research. Get to know your industry, locally and internationally, keep improving your business and design skills, get to know your consumer and make sure your marketing strategy is in line with your collection.

What keeps an established designer such as Clive Rundle coming back to the event to show his collections?

New York Fashion Week started in 1949, Paris Fashion Week in 1973, London in 1984, Milan in 1959.

Fashion Week is the main fashion event in each country, generating huge, worldwide publicity for the designers.

Every season all the well-known designers - Dior, Prada, Calvin Klein, Armani - show their collections.

Clive, and many other designers who are serious about building their business, understand the power of the Fashion Week and use it as a marketing platform.

We invite the media, buyers and their personal guests. Clive generated millions of rands worth of publicity for his last season, autumn-winter 2015.

Jacques van der Watt, of Black Coffee, once mentioned that his sales drop by half if he does not show a collection at the Fashion Week.

Most of the clients of Ephraim Molingoana (from Ephymol) order direct off the runway - they want the collections immediately. One of his biggest clients comes to his show fittings to order.

SA Fashion Week is the only business-to-business designer marketing platform in South Africa, selling wholesale to boutiques and department stores.

The Buyers' Lounge caters to46 designers from all over the country. We are expecting more than 100 buyers from boutiques nationally to be at the lounge.

• SA Fashion Week began last night and is on at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rosebank, Johannesburg, until Saturday. Visit www.safashionweek.co.za for more info.