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The COVID-19 pandemic affects the global fashion industry as governments close down manufacturing plants, and through store closures, and event cancellations [1] to attempt to slow the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on fashion brands worldwide. [2] At the same time, the fashion industry faces challenges in consumer demand. [3] New opportunities are also presenting themselves as fashion brands shift to making fashionable COVID-19 face masks. [4] [5] Domenico de Sole, chairman of Tom Ford International, remarked that "I have seen a lot of difficult situations in my long career and this has been the most devastating event, not just for fashion and luxury, but all industries." [6]
In the first months following the start of the global lock-down, the fashion sector was shaken by the sudden stop of all retail stores sales worldwide. The supply chain froze for a few weeks in some countries, which materialized by a lack of fabric availability and order cancellations. Many fashion designers saw the pandemic as a catalyst for change, a way to break away from the industry's constraints. Most fashion companies focused on innovation with online sales to maintain revenue afloat. [7] According to Bloomberg , Bangladesh was severely hit by the sudden halt of production. In many countries, financial programs were launched to support suddenly jobless workers of the fashion industry. [8] "The global trade union which works to give workers around the world a voice, says that millions of garment makers have already lost their jobs as a result of the virus and have no access to social or financial safety nets to help them weather this storm." [8] This has affected many fashion brands directly, as they face challenges by no longer having their manufacturers to rely on. Brands typically pay their suppliers weeks or even months after delivery, rather than upon order. [9] Suppliers, though, need to pay upfront the cost of materials and fibers used to make the products they have been asked to produce from brands. The issue is that with the unfolding situation of the pandemic, fashion brands and retailers are cancelling orders, due to low demands of clothing, and cancelling payments for orders that have already been placed with their manufacturers. Hence, fashion brands take no responsibility for the impact this has on the people working under their supply chains; their manufacturers who have already worked on crafting their products at their own cost and no longer receive anything in return. Given the situation, factories are left with no other choice than to keep hold of unwanted goods already made or destroy them, and laying off workers to afford the crisis or shutting down their factories indefinitely. [8] With this scenario happening all over the globe, fashion brands are highly affected when it comes to the manufacturing of their goods.
In early April 2020, Forrester published a report predicting a $2.1 trillion loss in sales for the global retail industry in 2020. [10]
With store closures, some fashion companies had their spring sales fell by 60%. A mid-April report by the Census Bureau estimated the decline of retail sales to -8,7% in March 2020, with clothing sales falling hard with a 50.5% sales drop. The New York Times found the data comparable to those of the months following the 2008 financial crisis, even though stores remained opened that time. Sales of casualwear and sleepwear, to adapt to the lockdown lifestyle, boomed. Department stores, which were already losing the competition to online sales, all announced a major crisis to come, being unable to compensate their losses with online sales. [11] In April 2020, clothing sales fell 79% in the USA. [12] The industry recorded a 9.6% global decline in 2020. [10]
The demand for tracksuits, pajamas, hoodies, sportswear, and other leisurewear highly rose. Baggy jeans, for example, are replacing tight ones. [13] Sweatpants sales grew 80% in 2020 in the USA. [12] The fashion needs and interests of people are highly shifting, as they prefer comfortable clothes over high design. Consumer changes in tastes in accordance to apparel and styles have led businesses to pivot towards a greater focus in loungewear and activewear, ideal for a stay at home situation. Moreover, with the shift in customer attention to safety, health and wellness, retailers are facing the post-pandemic challenge of capturing new customer needs with a greater focus in hygiene and safety to retain their clientele. [14]
The economic crisis hit the larger department stores first: J.Crew, Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers and JCPenney all filed for bankruptcy within the months following the coronavirus outbreak. On the other end, the outbreak was also the start of booming online sales for some smaller, low-overhead clothing companies that foster a close relationship with their customers. [12]
As retail stores shut their doors and stay-at-home orders kept people inside, there was a dramatic shift towards digital commerce that is likely to continue post-pandemic. Consumers had to increase their use of services like social commerce and curbside pickup and retailers had to offer digital solutions in order to survive. [15] Sales from physical brick-and-mortar stores and department stores are down and expected to continue decreasing while direct-to-consumer online retailers are on the rise. [16] Some dressmakers and seamstresses have shifted to making masks, including specialized masks for Sikhs and wearers of turbans, hijabs, and hearing aids, as well as those with full beards. [17] According to Shashin Shah of TotalRetail, the industry's new challenge is to deliver "contactless yet engaging customer experiences." [10]
The lockdown led to a surge of new TikTok users, with 2 million app downloads during the week of March 16, 2020 (1.7 million the prior week), but its gross revenue grew by 34% that same week. [18] According to Isabel Slone, TikTok rewards people for "retreating into their own niches and discovering new interests". [19]
According to the Harvard Business Review (2021), the covid crisis led to a great decline in traditional advertising spending, and a historic ROI from social media, leading fashion companies and brands to boost their online and digital presence. About 61% of CMOs indicated that they have "shifted resources to building customer-facing digital interfaces" and 56.2% are planning to "transform their go-to-market business models to focus on digital opportunities". [20]
Designers have adapted with producing and showcasing their fashion products by streaming presentations online without a live audience present. [21] The British Fashion Council made an announcement in April 2020 that it would develop a digital "cultural fashion week platform" that designers could use in any way that they thought would work for them rather than facilitating the typical format and setting of a fashion show. Shanghai and Moscow fashion weeks were presented digitally in late March and April 2020. Ermenegildo Zegna coined the word phygital to describe "physical space and digital technologies" as its new way of showcasing fashion. [22]
As art galleries and museums were closed, First American Art Magazine organized a virtual art exhibition and asked the Native art community to submit masks. More than seventy artists handed in 125 masks, from functional masks to decorated ones. [23]
The fashion industry is one of the world's largest polluting industries. With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has faced a stage of reassessment and a quest for new ecological alternatives. Large retailers were already facing the decline of in-store sales and could not risk additional significant sustainability-oriented investments. [24] Numerous reports and studies have shown how the COVID-19 pandemic highly motivated consumers to create a better, healthier planet. Consumer fashion purchasing behavior has evolved and people are leaning towards more environmentally-friendly, sustainable, and/or ethical purchases. [25]
LVMH launched the deadstock resale platform Nona Source to boost the industry's circularity. [26]
The pandemic propelled an already existing surge for secondhand luxury fashion, with websites such as The RealReal, ThredUp, or Poshmark, seeing a surge of activity during the pandemic. [27] In March 2021, the luxury group Kering acquired 5% of the secondhand resale platform Vestiaire Collective. [28] In early 2024, the Gucci Vault (marketplace of exclusive collaborations and It products) was replaced by Gucci Vintage (reconditioned secondhand clothes). [29]
Face masks are a "piece of clothing ... that began as purely protective transforming into a fashion statement in no time at all." [30] The trikini in Italy, for example, consists of two piece beachwear and a matching mask. [31] [32] [33] [34] More broadly they have appeared on the catwalk as a part of the haute couture's industry turn towards a utilitarian flair, and furthermore with the global rollout of effective vaccines thought is now being given to "the post-COVID look". [35]
One report based on a US survey showed that 79% said they dress differently since the lock-down. [36] The term "casualization" was used to describe this trend that had been observed before the sanitary crisis, but accelerated after the lock-down. [37]
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells in smaller quantities to consumers for a profit. Retailers are the final link in the supply chain from producers to consumers.
Primark Stores Limited is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original Penneys brand is not used outside of Ireland because it is owned elsewhere by American retailer J. C. Penney.
Panic buying occurs when consumers buy unusually large amounts of a product in anticipation of, or after, a disaster or perceived disaster, or in anticipation of a large price increase, or shortage.
Bulk purchasing or mass buying is the purchase of much larger quantities than the usual, for a unit price that is lower than the usual.
Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann, is an American haberdashery and mercery based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains JOANN Fabrics and Crafts and Jo-Ann Etc. The headquarters of the company is located in the former General Motors Terex plant.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is the world's largest retail trade association. Its members include department stores, catalog, Internet, and independent retailers, restaurants, grocery stores, multi-level marketing companies and vendors.
Superdry plc is a Japanese branded, British clothing company, and owner of the Superdry label. Superdry products traditionally combine vintage American styling with Japanese-inspired graphics.
An online grocer is a supermarket or grocery store that allows ordering via websites or mobile apps. The order can either be collected by the customer or delivered to the customer by drivers engaged by the grocer, a food delivery service, or by delivery drones and robots.
B&M European Value Retail S.A., trading as B&M, is a British multinational variety store chain founded in 1978 and incorporated in Luxembourg. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Digital Fashion is the visual representation of clothing built using computer technologies and 3D software. This industry is on the rise due to ethical awareness and uses of digital fashion technology such as artificial intelligence to create products with complex social and technical software.
Retail apocalypse refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains, beginning around 2010 and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boohoo Group plc is a British online fast-fashion retailer, aimed at 16 to 30 year olds. The business was founded in 2006, and had sales in 2019 of £856.9 million.
The COVID-19 pandemic affects the global food industry as governments close down restaurants and bars to slow the spread of the virus. Across the world, restaurants' daily traffic dropped precipitously compared to the same period in 2019. Closures of restaurants caused a ripple effect among related industries such as food production, liquor, wine, and beer production, food and beverage shipping, fishing, and farming.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the cannabis industry. Investor's Business Daily said the industry was affected as "customers stock up on prescriptions and recreational customers load up on something to make the lockdown a little more mellow or a little less boring".
The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching economic consequences including the COVID-19 recession, the second largest global recession in recent history, decreased business in the services sector during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the 2020 stock market crash, which included the largest single-week stock market decline since the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the impact of COVID-19 on financial markets, the 2021–2023 global supply chain crisis, the 2021–2023 inflation surge, shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic including the 2020–present global chip shortage, panic buying, and price gouging. It led to governments providing an unprecedented amount of stimulus. The pandemic was also a factor in the 2021–2022 global energy crisis and 2022–2023 food crises.
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been widely disruptive, adversely affecting travel, financial markets, employment, shipping, and other industries. The impacts can be attributed not just to government intervention to contain the virus, but also to consumer and business behavior to reduce exposure to and spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a sharp economic toll on the retail industry worldwide as many retailers and shopping centers were forced to shut down for months due to mandated stay-at-home orders. As a result of these closures, online retailers received a major boost in sales as customers looked for alternative ways to shop and the effects of the retail apocalypse were exacerbated. A number of notable retailers filed for bankruptcy including Ascena Retail Group, Debenhams, Arcadia Group, Brooks Brothers, GNC, J. C. Penney, Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia has had a significant impact on the Malaysian economy, leading to the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) and the decline in the country's gross domestic product. The pandemic also adversely affected several key sectors including entertainment, markets, retail, hospitality, and tourism. Besides shortages in goods and services, many businesses had to cope with social distancing and lockdown restrictions, which affected their operations and revenue. The pandemic also drew attention to workplace safety and the exploitation of migrant workers working in Malaysian industries.
Strandbags is an Australian and New Zealand retailer of handbags, wallets, luggage, backpacks and other personal accessories.
Revenge buying refers to a sudden surge in the purchase of consumer goods after people are denied the opportunity to shop for extended periods of time. The revenge buying mechanism is thought to have evolved as a reaction to the frustration and psychological discomfort caused by restrictions in the freedom of movement and commerce. Unlike panic buying, revenge buying appears to involve the purchase of superfluous goods, such as bags and clothing, as well as decorative objects such as gems and jewellery. The industries revolving around the production of these objects, a major source of revenue for the retail sector, saw huge losses during the lockdowns induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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