Receiving her Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Sciences Specialising in Retail was the dynamic Boitumelo Pooe. The charismatic lass from Johannesburg was conferred with her PhD at the esteemed 2025 Spring Graduation ceremony, held at the Olive Convention Centre on Friday, 19 September 2025.
Having a huge respect and love for fashion prompted the gorgeous Dr Pooe to give credit to all 59% of women graduates this Spring graduation at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). She opted to adorn a beautiful Winnie Mandela Azania dress by South African designer, David Tlale, which had words of the late Winnie Mandela penned: “To those who oppose us, we say strike a woman, and you strike a rock” which embodies the strength and resilience of women fighting oppression.
Giving a sense of her feelings on the day, Dr Pooe said that she chose to be calm and collected at her graduation ceremony. “I’m calm, excited, relieved, that’s its finally here,” she shared.
Giving context to her academic journey, Dr Pooe shared that in March 2020, she had left for Germany during the COVID-19 Level 3 lockdown, after receiving an opportunity of a lifetime to research and teach at the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) Ravensburg University for a three-year scholarship programme. She had boarded the repatriation flight to Germany as she was not willing to let COVID-19 stand in the way of her dreams.
“When I first arrived in Germany restaurants were still open, I was still getting used to the environment. At the moment I felt like I was in a fishbowl but it helped me with my writing,” said Dr Pooe.
Her main challenge included moving country which was quite strenuous. “So lockdown, moving country to a whole new dynamic of language barriers and culture differences was a whole other ballgame,” she stressed.
Dr Pooe said being part of the programme helped her grow her service for her country as she always strives to change people’s lives. Lastly, she said she was proud of DUT’s ENVISION2030 for decolonising education.
The title of her thesis is: Critical success factors and external support of retailing fashion design entrepreneurs: a comparison between selected areas in Germany and South Africa.
Her study focuses on retailing fashion design entrepreneurs in South Africa and Germany, addressing the problem of unclear critical success factors and the limited effectiveness of external support.
“The issue affects both entrepreneurs and support organisations, making it difficult to allocate resources and develop targeted strategies. The aim of this study was to identify the critical success factors for retailing fashion design entrepreneurs and assess how external support can be optimised. To achieve this, the study used an explanatory mixed-methods approach, combining consumer surveys (South Africa: n = 511; Germany: n = 532) and interviews with fashion designers (South Africa: n = 9; Germany: n = 6). Participants were selected using non-probability quota sampling to ensure relevance and accuracy,” she indicated.
The results of her study showed that 3Ps: place, product, and price, out of the six original retail mix Ps (place, product, price, promotional, presentation, and personnel) were critical success factors across both markets.
“South African designers focused on local identity and logistical challenges, while German designers emphasised technological integration and global positioning. These findings were informed by the development of a refined retail mix framework for retailing fashion design entrepreneurs, comprising 5Ps: place, product, price, promotional-presentation, and personnel, as identified through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In summary, this research addresses the lack of clarity
around success factors and offers a practical retail mix for fashion design entrepreneurs. The study’s findings are useful for improving support structures, guiding policy, and enhancing retail performance in diverse market environments,” she explained.
She shared that the purpose of her thesis was to have focused support structures for fashion designers. As you can see what I am wearing is from our designers but it does not necessarily mean that they (designers) are going to make it in the business,” she said.
Dr Pooe emphasised that longevity, keeping focus, being intentional, and that there is sustainability of their business structures. She indicated that designers needed to focus on the 3Ps which is place, product, and price.
Under the supervision of Professor Thomas Dobbelstein and co-supervisor: Prof VP Rawjee, Dr Poee gave huge thanks to her amazing bond with her supervisors, especially Prof Dobbelstein who was instrumental in helping her whilst she was studying overseas.
Speaking about her determination, Prof Dobbelstein said inviting somebody to leave her native country South Africa to work and live for three years in Germany was a high responsibility. He said it was important that one does not only look at the academic qualification of a person.
He shared his congratulatory remark with Dr Pooe, saying: “Enjoy your graduation, it will not happen very often in your life.”
The Fashion business researcher and strategist, Dr Pooe owns a consultancy called Sesi2me (Pty) Ltd since 2017 which means ‘big sister to the fashion designers’, so in essence, her role is to offer support to South African designers and to see them through their business journey.
Pictured: Boitumelo Pooe
Photography: S’bonelo Dlamini
Waheeda Peters/Simangele Zuma
