As the coronavirus pandemic spreads, so does its
impact. Every industry is affected due to global lockdown. Fashion hub is also not
behind from the impact of Covid-19. The most recent run of fashion weeks – the
womenswear shows in New York, Milan, London and Paris – were overshadowed by
the spread of coronavirus, which spread to Italy just as the shows were
beginning there. The shows were cancelled when the virus began appearing in the
United States. So, what has happened and what to expect next? Let’s try and
make an observation from the latest developments.
Based on Export
Genius research report and market experts, fashion industry is likely to
bear $43 billion losses in 2020 as coronavirus panic goes global. A number of
shifts in reaction to the spread of the virus will change the next round of
fashion shows – the lucrative “cruise” season – as well as the way Americans
shop and what will be available to them.
Cruise Season is Off
The very popular cruise season is the most lucrative
fashion event and held in spring season every year. It’s a kind of in-between
schedule of ambitious but commercial collections that brings influencers,
editors and perhaps most importantly, major clients to locations across the
world. A number of brands have already cancelled their cruise shows. For
instance, Prada, which planned a resort show in Tokyo; Burberry, which had
scheduled in April show in Shanghai; Gucci, which had planned to show in San
Francisco in May.
Fashion Designers Cancelled Shows
Amid coronavirus outbreak, fashion designers are
cancelling their shows. For instance, Ralph Lauren cancelled his April show,
originally intended to display his Fall 2020 collection. A number of smaller
events, from a Michael Kors event in Milan to Roise Assoulin’s presentation in
Paris, were cancelled too.
Online Shopping is Affected, Too
Many e-commerce websites have shut down their services
online due to affected supply chain, shortage of goods and countries’ lockdown
amid covid-19 spread fear. In the midst of government-mandated quarantines in
China, consultants at Bain found that shoppers dramatically increased their
online purchases through Tmall, an ecommerce site, but that their designer
goods purchases went down.
The Way Stores Buy is Changing
Designers are not merely in Europe to show clothing,
but to sell it. Due to the virus, a number of designers discovered this season
that they could still make sales without the person-to-person appointments,
using digital platforms like Joor to sell their goods instead. Others
reportedly used PDFs almost quaint to make sales. Undoubtedly a number of
popular merchants will struggle to place orders for clothing that they are not
able to feel. However, wholesalers are undoubtedly thinking about new ways to
buy clothes for the next season.
Last week, though, both Baselworld and W&W
announced this year’s events would not take place because of fears over
spreading Coronavirus even further at such global gatherings. However, they
have only postponed their events until January 2021. And brands are
individually trying to pull together their own presentations to replace the two
fairs.