Fashion World: What is Happening?

Now, we are month seven deep into the COVID crisis, and the fashion world is in dual parts slowing and steaming ahead. There was a lot of talk of change, upheaval and a general world wide shakeup, but now we seem to have settled into a collective ennui, punctuated by moments of Instagram excitement (mostly coming from Jonathan Anderson, if we are honest with ourselves).

I don’t mean to be depressing, but there is a collective feeling in fashion at the moment that we would all like to be doing more, and the question begs how? I have heard equal parts annoyance and optimism from contemporaries in the industry at happenings like the continuation of fashion weeks, but it seems like the industry as a whole is a little confused, and the great question above us all looms…what now? And how do we pivot in what seems to be a collective mess?

To answer this (in brief) I would turn away from questions like whether fashion weeks will exist or not (they will) and instead point to three large directions in which firms on the high and low end seem to be pivoting. This is mostly from anecdotal listening, and from viewing what is happening in the industry and where the dollars are flowing.

The first big trend appears to be a shift that is embedded in the need and desire of people to express their unique creativity and individualism. Fashion is still fashion, it is still fun, and people still want to consume (online or off), but the nature of how they consume is changing. People want items that for one express their deeply held beliefs, or at least express themselves uniquely amongst the pack. This goes for the top end of luxury, and from the lower ends of the market. You know this thought process is filtering throughout society as I listen to my taxi driver in London wax lyrical about how wonderful Yoox Net a Porter is as a platform, because none of his friends will have the same items that he does (and to be honest, he looked great).

The second large trend which I have mentioned before is sustainability. When you see Chanel issue $700 million of sustainability linked bonds on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and Adidas issue a 500 million euro (approximately $590 million) sustainability bond to fund environmental and social initiatives, you know these firms mean business, and that others will follow. Chanel itself is embarking on Chanel Mission 1.5- which has set out to reduce the world’s mean temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius (through reducing its carbon footprint in various ways throughout the supply chain among other initiatives). People no longer want to just consume, but to consciously consume. They want the same item without having to compromise on ethics, and a commitment to sustainability and transparency is now a must.

The third, which needs no explanation, is a deep pivot to e-commerce and a focus on truly integrating the internet into the omni-channel experience. Right now everyone frankly is just trying to figure out what to do with stores, and how stores are going to be re-integrated back into the consumption equation. Houses, brands and platforms with extremely clear, cohesive and easy e-commerce strategies have been a definite win during the pandemic, even on the luxury end. For the first time this week I ordered from Matches.com. The item was delivered within 2 hours, I tried it, didn’t love it, and booked my return. The process was entirely frictionless and executed within 24 hours. This expectation for convenience has always been a must in the US, but now it is filtering worldwide to make the e-commerce experience as convenient (if not more) as going to a store.

So what of the great pause? And how do we collectively as an industry pull up our bootstraps and move ahead? We are only really starting to see the beginning of how firms are actually creating concrete change as a result of the pandemic, and it is fascinating to watch and experience.

And so, while no clear answers remain, we will wait to see what big changes follow.