Hey guys, I hope you are all keeping safe and well. As I have always been fascinated by the fashion industry and the world of retail I am very intrigued as to how this pandemic will affect this industry. Fast fashion isn’t anyone’s priority right now but nonetheless its interesting.
It’s no secret that the fashion industry needs to change dramatically to work better for everyone involved. There are so many opportunities for us to come back from lockdown addressing those changes. However, that is in the long term I think in the short term it’s going to be ruthless. Most high street brands have been struggling for some time so this distribution to business has already had disastrous effects on a lot of household names. To name just a few brands that have already gone into administration are Oasis, Warehouse, Cath Kidston (moving to online only), Carluccio’s, Laura Ashley and Debenhams. Even though online shopping is rising, more than 80% of transactions in the fashion industry still happen in physical stores. Primark is one of the biggest retailers who don’t have an online e-commerce presence so reports suggest they went from making £650m in sales a month to nothing.
I adore the high street, I’ve always been obsessed with the experience of shopping make a day of it, the history of department stores etc. I hate the idea of the high street changing completely. However, I think the brands that do survive will rethink how the stores work. It will become more about the in-store experience. Stores will have less physical clothes on rails but more personal service and technology merged into the experience such as testing an item in different colourways via a screen. I hope to see things such as instore events centred around a line or collection. Traditionally shopping in department stores involved food, drinks and trying on different lines with expert opinions from in house stylists. These are the parts of in-store shopping that can’t be replaced by online shopping so retailers will need to adapt.
Hat – ASOS | Top – Topshop | Jeans – Zara | Jacket – ASOS . This jacket I ordered just as lock down was looming and it is yet to have left the house but god I am obsessed with it.
Our needs as consumers have changed. In the short term, this is having a huge knock-on effect on retailers. As Next’s chief executive Simon Wolfson said: “No-one wants to buy clothes to sit at home in,”. Normally the high street would be in full swing for spring-summer. Whether it’s for holidays, weddings, garden parties etc none of those events are happening. Therefore there is a large portion of the country being more thoughtful about what’s essential, what they need and are actually going to wear out when making purchases. However online shopping is still there, sales everywhere as retailers panic and as everyone is in need of pick me ups, some retail therapy is still needed. Where the usual summer sales have slipped some areas have had huge increases such as gym clothes and loungewear.
The brands are still having to pay all the suppliers and manufacturers even though they know the stock will not get sold or ever make it to the shop floor. Each day new brands are making the headlines for supposedly not paying suppliers. The Clean clothes campaign is updating us on social media on which brands are doing the right thing. Brands plan so far ahead with such excess stock, it’s scary to think about the waste that might be about to happen. On the other hand, a number of designer brands have talked about releasing the lines planned for S/S20 for S/S21 instead. I think this is so interesting as it makes the idea of trend-led fast fashion obsolete. We all know deep down that garments don’t have an expiry date. We don’t need 200 news pieces to be dropped each week that are only relevant for a few months if the brands themselves are questioning this is could be pivotal in the fashion industry becoming more sustainable.
In the short term, it’s going to be really sad a lot of job losses and bankruptcies. But in the long term, I am hopeful the industry can use this for the better. If there’s one brand you’d be sad to see disappear from the high street support them where you can too.
Let me know if you think this will make or break that fashion industry? Are you still buying clothes to wear to the sofa?
Love Charlotte xxx