Training throughout the value chain was an important theme at the conference. Karla Esterhuyse explained that Mohair SA is already working with Grade 10 learners at schools such as Oakdale, Marlow and Winterberg, while the industry also focuses on colleges, universities, internships, farm worker training and shearing accreditation.
“ A rising tide lifts all boats.”— Cayly Warner
Frances van Hasselt emphasised why fashion education is so important: until recently, mohair was taught formally in hardly any fashion schools. That is why the industry is now working with institutions such as Polimoda in Florence, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Parsons, Pratt, Harvard and the Design Academy of Fashion in Cape Town.
Leandi Mulder, Head of Department at the Design Academy of Fashion, said students should not only learn about mohair, but work with it themselves. The aim is to shape a new generation of designers who understand that every material decision affects a producer, a goat, a worker, a landscape and a community.
Value in every stitch
The job creation made possible by mohair extends far beyond the farm gate. It includes shearers, sorters, brokers, processors, spinners, dyers, designers, knitters, weavers and small manufacturers.
Cayly Warner of SAMIL said hand knitting may seem small in volume and scale, but it has significant influence. Knitters share their yarns, patterns and finished work online with international communities. When a designer with a large online audience publishes a pattern using mohair, the story of the fibre travels around the world in that way.
In the design panel discussion, Adele Cutten of Adéle’ s Mo-