The Refashioning of Fashion In the Age of Covid19 - Chapter 1- Introduction
THE CORONA DRESS - PLACEMENT PRINT ON 4-PLY SILK CREPE
As in years past, February 2020 brought Fashion Week to the capitals of the US and European retail world. Some designers showed styles eerily befitting the uncertainty of the times (have you seen the Fall 2020 Balenciaga show?- please check it out), but none could have fully known what was to come. At this point, we have to forgo our inspired spring wardrobe this season for the only big trend that matters; the almighty face mask is a must-have this season...and every season hereafter. Guaranteed to be a must have in every color going forward. The fashion industry has been complacent for so long as the world’s challenges rise up around us. Perhaps the coronavirus sounds a new alarm call to make us rise to the occasion. And since global warming, social injustice, and trade iniquity weren’t screaming loudly enough, the current pandemic is making sure we hear and take notice.
The coronavirus has made its mark on every industry imaginable, especially those that rely heavily on overseas manufacturing and domestic brick and mortar retail. Out of the countless affected markets, the fashion industry will take a hard hit. The global Fashion retail industry makes up for $1.7 trillion dollars, which is 2% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the coronavirus is a perfect storm. It began in China, fashion’s production hub, and crushed supply chains. Then it moved across Europe and North America, where retail sales of fashion goods have slowed significantly. Now, slowly recovering from its early suffering, Asia’s retail consumption, which accounted for a large share of consumer growth in the fashion industry, is likely to remain suppressed. Along the way, millions of retail, design, and production jobs have been lost and a once-booming sector of the global economy is reconsidering its identity.
But I’m a designer, so I cannot help but think of this as a garment. If the global economy were a wedding gown (think Princess Grace Kelly’s wedding gown), fashion would be the bodice - it is carefully crafted for beauty and function and serves a vital purpose, but it makes up a surprisingly small percentage of the yardage needed for such a voluminous piece.
Wedding dress of Grace Kelly – Actress Grace Kelly wore this gown at her wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. The bodice makes up for an important part of any dress. Likewise, fashion has a key role in the global economy. There is no gown without a bodice!
Honestly, even I can understand how some parts of an industry that is mostly about adornment can come off as being trivial, at best. However, as a whole, it plays a key role in the global economy. First, it creates jobs - many of them. And if the fashion industry makes up a fairly small share of the global economy it is partly because wages for so many of the people who make our clothing are significantly lower than they should be, especially across the developing world. And throughout this pandemic the fashion sector has touched everything from agriculture to manufacturing to the weaving /fusing of textiles with anti-microbial properties used for PPE and medical equipment.
The apparel industry is not just silk gowns, sparkle, and tuxedos at the MET Gala. What makes fashion so powerful is its ability to fuse the most real things: cotton, wool, leather, silk, protection; with the most conceptual: aesthetics, beauty, form, and identity. Few things have remained as constant in the narrative of human history as the meaning of clothing. From the Bible to Instagram, the chronicle of human times has been a story of garments. This power is not diminished one bit by the current trial. But it will need to evolve.
We’ve taken a liking to shopping online for quite some time; I certainly have! In 2019 e-retail sales accounted for 14.1% of all retail sales worldwide. This figure is foreshadowed to increase to 22% by 2023. Now that the coronavirus is in town, nearly all fashion retail in much of the world is online, and I am convinced that we have to refashion the brick and mortar frontier, because “normal” is never coming back. Storied retailers and designers alike have suffered in recent years, and the coronavirus has accelerated their decline. Barneys, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, and Sears have all been brought to their knees in recent years, despite serving different customers and offering varied products. Macy’s, The GAP, and Ralph Lauren have also suffered in an era of disruption due to their crippling dis-economies of scale. Few brands or retailers have enough liquidity to manage through the drought and still invest in retooling for the retail world of tomorrow.
Not all is lost! The stay home mandate can't last forever, and I think there are great opportunities for us now. And by “us” I mean brands, retailers, customers, and aesthetes all around. We’ve been stuck inside and at home for months now. Those of us who love to see and experience a retail environment are longing to get out, hit the pavement, see what others are wearing out in the world, and go to stores in person again. But we all need to be safe while we do it. That requires trust, and trust requires supportive relationships throughout the fashion supply chain, design process, and shopper experience with the brand. Consumers need to feel that brands and retailers have their backs (just as long as we keep 6 feet a part).
For those thinking about what comes next, the coronavirus has given us the space and time to take a step back and create new strategies. As we anticipate the customer’s return to our brick and mortar storefronts it will be up to us to maintain multi-channel retailing to maximize revenue and loyalty by offering customers choice and convenience. In future posts I’ll share my thoughts about what I, as a designer, shopper, and lover of beauty, wish to see brands and retailers doing to move back into the light and reconnect with their brand followers. If done creatively and safely, this trial can be an opportunity to reinvent the experience of shopping as we know it.
REFERENCES AND LINKS:
BALENCIAGA FALL 2020 READY TO WEAR RUNWAY SHOW https://youtu.be/9QMugKSXFWQ
https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics/
CREDIT FOR GRACE KELLY’S WEDDING GOWN FROM ARTICLE “30 OF THE MOST GRACEFUL & GORGEOUS LACE WEDDING GOWNS” BY Elizabeth Muhmood Kane
https://bridalmusings.com/49434/30-lace-sleeve-wedding-dresses/