By: Nontwenhle Mchunu

When I first read that Japan’s iconic denim craftsmanship was fading, it felt like an economic warning. Japan’s denim industry relies on a shrinking group of aging artisans, yet it powers a global premium market projected to reach $5.2 billion by 2035. If these skills were to disappear, the fashion value chain could face significant disruptions. I recognized this immediately because I grew up watching how local skills directly shape economic outcomes.

Growing up in a large family in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, I was surrounded by the hum of our many small businesses – farms, a small abattoir, a butchery, a supermarket, modest rental properties, and even a little petrol station.

My father believed skills start at ground level, so from an early age, we each worked in one of them. That’s where I learned what craftsmanship really means: understanding every step of a process and seeing value built by hand long before it becomes a product.

It’s that grounding in homegrown skills that now makes me concerned. Japan’s renowned denim depends on a shrinking group of aging artisans, with too few young people willing to take on the demanding work that keeps its heritage looms running. Despite its global popularity, it’s still at risk.

This year saw some undeniably unique jean trends, from the billowing barrel jean to the reluctantly re-welcomed skinny jean. But Japanese denim was the fabric of choice of some of the world’s most sought-after fashion and celebrity icons, from Meghan Markle to Hilary Duff. It’s the world’s highest-quality denim, powered by a mix of heritage techniques and modern experimentation. Many Japanese denim mills still use old shuttle looms that make narrow selvedge cloth. They need constant care and skilled workers, but they produce a quality modern machine that simply struggles to replicate.

If an industry and fabric of this caliber is in danger, then what can be said of other industries worldwide? This has stakes that go far beyond sentimentality. When we don’t invest in local craftsmanship and products, there are real global economic implications.

Through my work leading Ditau Africa – strengthening African supply chains and regional trade – and through The African Brand Ambassador (TABA), where I help African products reach new markets and shape policies that build our manufacturing base, I’ve learned that economies are only as strong as the skills that sustain them. True growth comes from the ability to process, manufacture, and brand goods locally, supported by skilled workers and functional supply chains. But if central artistic foundations erode, then what happens to the entire industries they feed?

This is a story playing out all over the Global South. India’s handloom sector is facing its own decline as master weavers age without successors. Italy’s leather tanneries are struggling with worker shortages that threaten a centuries-old industry. Parts of Africa’s textile and agri-processing sectors face similar pressures. Once artisanal labor disappears, the high-value segment of the market is likely to follow. Nostalgia may die a quick death but so does the value chain.

It’s a recipe for economic volatility. When traditional skills – those that migrate from generation to generation – falter, industries become more exposed to price shocks and unstable supply chains. Take Bangladesh. Jamdani weaving, once renowned as one of the finest textiles in the world, and the creation of the ultra-fine Dhaka muslin, a craft carried by generations of women and essentially extinct now, are both products of younger artisans moving toward faster, more predictable work. When they don’t see their skills being valued, why should they stick to them?

In Bangladesh, Youngone Corporation offers a compelling example. This global garment manufacturer entered the country more than four decades ago and made the active decision to build skills and capacity rather than extract them. It built training systems that have developed homegrown talent, created renewable energy avenues, invested in its own textile and manufacturing facilities rather than outsourcing to the cheapest bidder (even encouraging others to), and created a supply chain that is able to hold its own even as global markets shift and fluctuate, as they do.

By building capacity within Bangladesh rather than extracting value from it, Youngone has helped anchor an industry that might otherwise have been swept up in the same volatility that threatens heritage crafts across the region. It shows that if companies choose to invest in people and processes, they could protect both economic value and the traditions that make that value possible.

And it hasn’t exactly stopped there. It continues to broaden the textile framework within Bangladesh. It is looking to the future through the proposed development of a textile institute to train not only its own workers, but also to improve the levels of education and skill across Bangladesh. For continued growth and prosperity, governments in manufacturing hubs like Bangladesh ought to consider such holistic, capacity-building strategies at a national level. Investing in education, technology, and healthcare in a way that develops niche, unique skills in accordance with heritage and history pushes industries up the value chain and helps diversify a country’s economy. It is this dedication to traditional craftsmanship that will likely attract world-class investors to help raise overall standards of innovation, service, and quality.

I saw it myself when I trained in chocolate-making abroad and returned to Africa – a continent that produces most of the world’s cocoa yet gets very little in return. The difference between a floundering economy and a strong one is in the skills, processing, and the ability to hold on to the parts of a value chain that generate real economic return. If the people who know how to transform raw materials into high-quality products are pushed out or replaced, the economy will never get the chance to grow on its own terms. Every time I hold one of our chocolates, I know this fact to be true and solid.

Japan’s denim is the first alarm bell of a global pattern – if we don’t pay attention to what is taking root in the Global South right now. From textiles to food, our most cherished traditional skills are in serious danger.

The future belongs to the places that choose to build, train, and keep their own capacity. The world ignores this lesson at its own cost.

About the Author

Nontwenhle Mchunu is an entrepreneur and leading advocate for intra-African trade, sustainable industrialization, and inclusive growth. As CEO of Ditau Africa, she drives initiatives that strengthen Africa’s supply chains and expand regional markets. She is also the Founder of The African Brand Ambassador (TABA), advancing cross-border collaboration and economic transformation. With more than 18 years of experience in the food and commodities sectors, she also directs Mkabayi Group and founded the luxury confectionery brand Ezulwini Chocolate.