Fashion World! What Next…?

In these unprecedent times, what would be the upcoming trends? What would become of the makeup and apparel industry? What would be the post coronavirus world look like? How would the fashion events be planned?

World has come to a halt. As time passes and different nations keep on extending the lockdown, more and more questions are risen. Brands are confused about what should be their next course of action. China, Italy, and many other countries where most of the fashion brands have their manufacturing units are shut. Giant brands launched their latest collections in January-February, but now its time for them to start working on their fall collections and get the production started but they are unable to do so because of the uncertain situation. Due to the interconnectedness of the industry throughout the world it would be more difficult for them to plan ahead. Developing countries such as Bangladesh, India, Cambodia and other such countries where low cost manufacturing hubs are located workers would be baldly hit because of the inadequate health system and poverty which would be a blow to the future demand and supply.

According to business insider this year everyday would be like a black Friday due to the nonstop sales offered by almost all the brands. As the stores would start to reopen in coming months, they would mostly try to get rid of the inventory they have and for that they would be offering sales and different discount offers which would result in huge loses. Recently it was reported Bernard Arnault, owner and CEO of the French conglomerate LMVH lost $30 billion due to the current situation. Fashion industry will face a huge dip in the revenue by almost 27% to 30%. It is quite apparent that fashion industry will be struggling to survive when the economic recession would hit. Most of the small and medium sized brands both in apparel and footwear would be in financial distress. More so even the makeup industry is at huge risk because of the drop in sales even after discount offers.

Biggest event of the fashion industry Met Gala was postponed but celebrities honored the event by sharing their favorite looks from the past. When May started social media sites were swamped with the pictures shared by the celebrities of previous galas and even some of the stylists shared what the superstars and models were planning to wear this year. This clearly showed all these people were missing to pose at the red carpet of the most looked upon fashion event of the year. In the current situation events on such large scale cannot be organized due to the risk of exposing the people to get infected. This clearly shows that in post coronavirus world until it is safe for people to attend the public gatherings fashion shows and other fashion events would not be organized. But as of now all the fashion weeks would be  conducted virtually and people would see their favorite models and designer collections sitting at home from behind their own electronic gadgets screens.

There would be a serious blow to the fashion industry but at the same time new opportunities would open for the brands to reassess, reset, and reshape. Digital acceleration, discounting, industry alliance and corporate innovation should be prioritized. The industry leaders will be in need to come up with the solutions so that in future if they come across any such further outbreaks and lockdown emerges.