South African Fashion Week Makes Its Return

South African Fashion Week (SAFW) will return in April 2026 after a year-long break. This event is not just coming back, it promises to appeal to more people.

The South African Fashion Week was founded in 1997 with the goal of connecting designers and investors. It is held twice a year in Johannesburg to transform creative collections into fashion businesses. It promises to put South Africa designers on the global stage.

Photo: Instagram

However, the decision to pause the event in 2025 was to make it more sustainable. According to SAFW founder and director Lucilla Booyzen, the conventional system of large runway shows no longer reflected the current realities facing designers.

“After 28 years of shaping the South African designer fashion industry, I began to notice a gradual but unmistakable shift in how fashion operates,” Booyzen tells Vogue Business. “Instability in the supply chain has made fabric sourcing unsustainable, unpredictable and costly. Production costs have increased, while opportunities for visibility and retail presence for designer-led brands have reduced.”

The COVID-19 pandemic is another factor that contributed to the pause. Many South African designers shifted to digital sales models like Instagram and WhatsApp. Consumers now prefer buying directly through social media apps which pushed organisers to rethink strategy.

Photo: Instagram

Read Also: 3 Fashion Trends We’re Glad to Leave Behind in 2025.

The event now has a hybrid structure which combines physical runway shows with expanded digital participation. This digital participation includes livestreamed runway shows, where collections presented on the physical runway are broadcast online in real time and enhanced social media integration where backstage moments and interviews are shown on TikTok and YouTube. This will give South African designers more global exposure.

Photo: Instagram

Initiatives such as the New Talent Search and national student competitions will be introduced to support creatives. By changing its format, SAFW hopes to position South African designers to make them compete favorably with their peers around the world.

This new hybrid format will allow digital participation, enabling wider international access and South African designers reach new markets.