South Africa, Feb. 5 -- In 2019, she also launched the Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards.

Over the past few years, the local clothing and textile industry has suffered with the rise of online stores such as Temu and Shein.

The government has worked to mitigate this but a misconception that does not help, she says is that locally made fashion is too expensive.

"We get confused between designer fashion, which are the more luxurious fashion designers, who are at a higher price point, but there are also many retailers making affordable local clothing."

She believes the Department of Trade & Industry's (DTI) master plan to bring retailers and manufacturers together to increase local manufacturing is excellent.

"It is a voluntary agreement o...