Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fashion industry

Manufacturing issues include lack of fabric availability and order cancellations, but brands that prepared originally by importing fabrics and have them stored at a safehouse will benefit from the pandemic.[6]

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.[7] 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.[8]

Apparel is a leading discretionary purchase. Inasmuch as many people are staying at home, there is less emphasis on dressing for formal contexts. Likewise, many people make clothing purchases ahead of special occasions, such as weddings and vacation, but as many of these events have been canceled or postponed that need longer exists. Layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts are also affecting sales.[9]

Designers have adapted with producing and showcasing their fashion products by streaming presentations online without a live audience present.[10] 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.[11]

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.[12]

Trikini

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic will inevitably change the fashion industry forever. The necessity to purchase clothing on a frequent basis no longer exists, and numerous brands and historic department stores have closed for good.[13]

That said, face masks have been trending as a fashion statement during the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] It has been suggested that possibly "no other piece of clothing has had a trajectory like face masks — something that began as purely protective transforming into a fashion statement in no time at all."[15] The Trikini in Italy, for example, consists of two piece beachwear and a matching mask.[16][17][18][19] 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."[20]