I stood last night in the midst of fashionistas listening to Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe and other African Fashion International and Johannesburg city officials speaking passionately about Joburg Fashion Week’s program for 2011. The event takes place next month at various iconic venues throughout the city of Joburg. Moloi-Motsepe spoke of the desire, by her organisation and the local government, to position Johannesburg as the fashion capital of Africa. This is no news as those who are familiar with AFI will know that this is the same company that runs the annual Africa Fashion Week which will be held in Johannesburg for its third run in 2011.

I’m not going to bemoan the many fashion weeks that exist in South Africa, I think it’s an important debate to have, but I have- like many other fashion commentators, I’m sure - grown tired of it. It seems nothing will ever change in this regard.

The debate itself is inspired by seeking to find ways of constructing the fashion calendar in a way that makes sense if our fashion industry is to grow. Fragmentation can surely not be a good thing for the growth, is it? It is with much dismay that today I read on a Nigerian website (Bella Naija) that Arise Magazine, who withdrew their sponsorship of Africa Fashion Week last year, have decided to convene an Africa Fashion Week of their own in Lagos, Nigeria with a format that doesn’t actually differ from that of AFI’s; showcasing a plethora of African fashion talent under one roof. It boggles the mind why sponsorship was withdrawn if sponsoring a fashion week is still in the organisation’s interest as this move clearly illustrates.