South African artists to exhibit at Leatherworld ME 2018

Nearly 40 exhibitors from Italy, Australia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Lebanon, and the UAE will line-up alongside 15 South African companies at the Middle East’s premier showcase of end-user leather goods.  The exhibition's focus will be on expanding regional marketplace that has a strong preference for high-quality, bespoke leather products.

"Since the last edition of Leatherworld Middle East, we received private brand customers from the region to manufacturer their leather goods, while we also sold crocodile leather belts," said one of the exhibitors, Helen Simpson, Reptile Training’s managing director.

"We have another pending enquiry for crocodile leather cell phone pouches and there’s generally been a lot of interest for our products here. The Middle East is a fast growing region which is hungry for change and we produce top end quality leather apparel that appeals to this market," added Simpson.

WEEF, another South African company, is a debut exhibitor at Leatherworld Middle East 2018, and will bring its handmade accessories including samples of leather suspenders, belts, and new skinny tie and bow tie options aimed at the ‘dapper gentleman movement.’

"Middle East men are focusing more on their appearance and grooming, and WEEF has re-ignited the dapper gentleman movement from Cape Town, South Africa. We believe you only need one piece of apparel to activate the true gentleman inside. Furthermore, consumers are moving away from mass produced goods and supporting handmade, small batch goods made by individuals with passion. We pride ourselves on offering sustainable handcrafted leather products for gentleman around the world," said Dévan Swanepoel, founder and head of production, at WEEF.

Elsewhere, Aruvali is another debut South African exhibitor at Leatherworld Middle East 2018, and will introduce its handcrafted ostrich leather handbags, purses, and accessories. "We will launch the 2018 Sunset Collection at Leatherworld Middle East along with two new styles; Sydney, a modern cross body handbag; and Dallas, a refined cross body tote for gentlemen," said director Lo-Jeanne Muller.

"Leatherworld Middle East has successfully brought together the regional leather industry under one roof over the past three years,” said Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East. "It will arrive again in 2018 as the embodiment of luxury and exclusivity, providing retailers, boutiques, fashion buyers and other regional trade visitors the perfect platform to discover, experience and source the latest in wares, leather goods, accessories and more." (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India