So last week, we caught up with Mr Jermaine Charles, for part 1 of our first Wiki Week series, today we bring you part 2. When we caught up with Jermaine, he was pretty excited, and we asked him why? He announced his new project called the ZAXL Expo.

J: ” The ZAXL Expo is part of a large scale initiative in the retail, manufacturing and export industry in South Africa, aimed at creating new entrepreneurial and employment opportunities in South African youth. It is made up of 2 parts: 

1)     Online store / blog (www.zaxlonline.com) coming end October 2011
2)      Annual Expo ‘#ZAXL YOUTH Expo’ 2011 – 2016 Capetown ,then Johannesburg and Durban

The Online store is a platform for:

1)     Youth to inspire and be inspired my being exposed to local streetwear entrepreneurs (LEAD).
2)     Be exposed to how they can use their creative skills in various industries (LEARN)
3)     Buy and sell LOCALLY produced clothing products mainly streetwear (LOVE LOCAL)

IG: But why? What is the point behind this?

J: ” We want to be able to expose consumers and South African youth to the numerous local , good quality clothing brands available to them, perhaps inspire others to start their own, show that fashion can be a viable business.”

IG: So are you focusing on local is lekker?

J: Yes, our aim is to assist local brands to sell and distribute their products via the online store, pop up store and our own expo. We also plan to participate in local and international tradeshows like Design Indaba and Agenda Show. Many young brands fail to make it in the market due to lack of exposure and distribution. Online distribution can no longer be ignored as 100 million people in Africa alone use the internet and the use of smart phones in South Africa will be more common by 2014.

IG: So it has a long term vision?

J: Yes, we want to help sustain and in the long term to create jobs in the clothing and textile industry in Western Cape and Kwazulu Natal. There are more than 2000 manufacturers in Cape town alone, each employing up to 50 people mostly women, who in turn, support 5 dependents.

IG: So what made you get involved with this project?

J: Well, we want to show how youth can apply their creative skills in marketing, design, branding and the colleges they can attend where they can upgrade their knowledge (think AAA, VEGA, CPUT, RED&YELLOW, City Varsity). I myself am studying Marketing Management at Varsity College to boost what I have learnt through experience.