FAQs

We believe that technology is a key driver of innovation for fashion businesses in Africa. Technology offers a window of opportunities for creativity as well as presenting itself as a solution for many of African Business’s growth challenges.

African businesses that successfully manage to integrate technology across their operations will not only flourish in today’s always-on, 24/7 connected world, but will position themselves strategically on a global market.

Fashion Tech Africa comes into this agenda by connecting the Africa’s leading fashion brands and industry professionals with emerging technologies, and introducing new and exciting startups to the discussion. Fashion Tech Africa is the meeting point between Technology and Fashion.

The conference is a property of Nonzero Agency Pty Ltd , a proudly South African company based in Rosebank, dedicated to helping small and large companies grow in Africa

Fashion Tech™ is a registered trademark.

Fashion Tech™ Africa and Threads Stitched by Standard Bank are both the birthchild of Nonzero Agency Pty Ltd

Threads Stitched by Standard Bank is an innovative enterprise development program with a strong digital focus. The success of the program is rooted in a strong ecosystem of partners including Standard Bank, Mercedes-Benz, EOH Learning & Development and Kaya FM. The goal of the program is to drive entrepreneurship in South Africa as well as support in bringing the South African fashion industry to the rest of the World.

At the core of the campaign is an 18-week accelerator program curated in partnership with the University Cattolica of Milan which tackles the business side of fashion: from logistics to eCommerce, to franchising right through to accounting & marketing. Treating the participants as small-business owners/CEO’s as opposed to designers, the program teaches them everything they need to succeed as a business.

Threads is proudly positioning itself as a ‘Made in South Africa’ program. Throughout the program the participating entrepreneurs are inspired by the country’s top business minds and success stories as well as through field trips across the country showcasing some of the countries’ exceptional craft and local materials to stimulate the entrepreneurs to make use of South Africa’s resources as they grow their business.

To maximize impact and ensure knowledge and resources are shared with as many entrepreneurs as possible, all learnings and events part of the accelerator are documented on the Threads online platform: wearethreads.com. To date, Threads Stitched by Standard Bank generated over 27 000 unique visitors in its first month and has continued to grow at an average rate of 20% month on month.

A hackathon is an event where programmers get together for a short period of time to collaborate on a project. The participants work rapidly and often work without sleep to achieve their task, as the events generally only last 24 hours or take place over a weekend.

We’ve all heard that the fashion industry is worth 3 trillion USD, however, Africa accounts for less than 1% of this. Nonzero Africa introduced as a result of this the very first Business of Fashion Accelerator program in South Africa, Threads Stitched by Standard Bank, a program focussed on empowering fashion SME’s with access to market and a curriculum teaching them the ins and outs of the business side of fashion.

The impact of the program on the industry has been testified through the program’s finalists international success and business progress, but more is to be done. There are many bottlenecks that are preventing Africa’s fashion and textile industry from growing – The Fashion Tech Hackathon will aim to provide 4 innovative solutions using uniquely selected technology, and all this … in 24 Hours.

4 Teams will be formed each comprising of 1 programmer, 1 developer, 1 UX/Visual design, and 3 threads finalists. Each team will be attributed a specific unique technology to work with.

And 24 hours later, the teams will present their fully functioning proof of concepts.

24 Hours

If you are an independent programmer, visual designer, UX/UI designer > Please email leslie@nonzero-africa.com

If you are a technology startup and would like your technology used as one of the case studies > Unfortunately, we have already selected our startups for the 2018 edition but we are still waiting listing companies and preparing for 2018. If you’re interested, please email leslie@nonzero-africa.com

For partnership enquiries, please email desiree@nonzero-africa.com

All fees include participation and access to the specified event as well as refreshments and drinks.

Please note, parking and transport fees are not included.

Yes, you can print your receipt or use your digital confirmation on your mobile phone

You can pay on our website directly or by visiting the eventbrite platform

For the Hackathon > Please wear comfortable clothing. Jeans, T-shirt and tackies are a great start. It’s a long day with lots of movement and a very “silicon valley” feel so you’ll want to be as comfortable as possible.

For the Conference > Smart Casual / Business Casual dress code

For the Graduation Event + After-Party > Cocktail / Gala dress code

A good mood and smile, and if you want, you can also bring something to take notes, pen and notebook.

Email threads@nonzero-agency.com with the topic you would like to speak on or visit the page in the “About the Event” section

No guarantee will be made as it is a very busy event with over 250 delegates, however, all invited speakers will be attending the graduation event and after-party where there is a higher likelihood you will be able to interact with them