Hello and welcome to Leeds RAG. There is no denying the enormous disruption the pandemic has caused all industries, let along a non-essential market such as fashion. Leeds RAG asked Elisha, a Fashion Marketing Student here at Leeds, to give us the details on how the fashion industry is, or has already, responded to the COVID19 pandemic. Is sustainability at the forefront or is it being forgotten amongst the chaos?
The fashion industry is fast-paced, with rapid product-turnovers and a cycle based on pumping out new trends and ranges every season. To keep up with demand, brands supply chains must work hard to manufacture and distribute product at high-speed. As a result, the global fashion industry is one of the world’s dirtiest industries, producing 20 to 35 percent of the microplastic that pollutes the sea. What’s more, the fashion industry’s carbon footprint outweighs that of international flights and shopping combined.
Prior to 2020, the industry’s impact on the environment had been heavily criticised. However, despite the challenges of the global pandemic, some good news lies in COVID-19 bringing sustainability to the forefront, accelerating brand’s move towards sustainable fashion and practices. So, to highlight this silver lining, here are six developments that have emerged from the cloud that is coronavirus.
1. Consumers values are shifting
As restricting as lockdown has been, it has also given many of us the chance to live life at a slower pace and plenty of time to think and enjoy the little things. P.S. don’t worry if you haven’t achieved anything monumental in the past year – it’s been tough (to say the least).
Before the pandemic, some consumers were too busy to truly understand fashion’s impact on the environment and what sustainability actually means. The pandemic has given all us us time to think about sustainability and, in-turn, rethink our existing shopping habits and behaviours. This means that in the future, it is likely that consumers will be more critical about their relationship with brands and consumption. This could be through partaking in more sustainable consumption, through being more selective with the brands they choose to purchase from as well as an increased concerned regarding where products come from and their supply chains. Sustainability will be at the forefront of people’s minds and drive society towards increasingly sustainable and responsible lifestyles.
2. A newfound emphasis on ethical as well as sustainable
Prior to the pandemic, sustainable fashion was discussed amongst brands. However, the topic of ethical fashion was only just brought to light in 2020. With instances, such as garment workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam facing destitution due to brand’s refusal to pay for orders due to decreasing demand, taking place, increased awareness was brought to workers’ rights and overproduction.
In response, several acts of social pressure took place. For instance, the #PayUp Campaign called out several brands for not paying for their orders. Such responses also highlighted the effectivity of people coming together and disputing a cause to enact change in the industry.
3. Brands are increasing their sustainability efforts
As highlighted, 2020 was the year sustainability went mainstream. In-line with consumers’ shift towards more sustainable consumption, many brands recognised that being more responsible and sustainable may be the key to surviving post-COVID. Arguably, the fashion industry’s slow progress regarding sustainability was due to a lack of incentive to behave responsibly. Therefore, some brand’s previous attempts at sustainability come across as superficial; this is where greenwashing comes in, as discussed in a previous blog post. Now, sustainability is no longer a buzzword or seen as a unique way for a brand to stand out, it’s a necessity.
As a result, brands big and small have increased their sustainability efforts from adopting responsible supply chains to re-focusing marketing campaigns, utilising innovative materials to showing greater transparency. For instance, Gucci developed their Off The Grid collection; a new sustainable collection that uses recycled, organic, bio-based and sustainably-sourced materials.
4. Change to fashion cycle
The global pandemic has broken the fashion industry’s traditional cycles of consumption and destruction. As we know, due to the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns, several retailers were made to close their stores and demand for product decreased. As a result, many brands have been left with heaps of unsold stock. This then poses the question: what will happen to all the unsold clothes? Will some brands destroy the stock? Will some brands offer drastic discounts? Or will brands re-use the unsold stock for later seasons at full price? This third option highlights COVID-19’s impact on the fashion cycle and seasons, particularly in luxury fashion.
When COVID-19 came to the UK in March last year, this coincided with several fashion shows which were either pushed back or took place online. Since then, several luxury brands, such as Gucci and Saint Laurent, have announced that they will no longer adhere to the traditional fashion schedule, whilst acknowledging the unrelenting schedule of the luxury fashion industry (up to eight collections a year). In context of both environmental and social sustainability, many designers now intend on reducing the number of runway shows and clothing products, whilst releasing collections in-line with actual seasons.
5. Changing consumption habits
Along with a mind-shift change for consumers, there has also been an increase in shopping locally and from small businesses. Not only does this make for more unique product finds or benefit the local economy, but such choices can also reduce the environmental impact caused by product delivery. Shopping local helps reduce the footprint of your products by cutting down the length of supply chains.
There has also been an increase in second-hand shopping – check out this blog post for our favourite online second-hand stores. Across all fashion market levels there has been an increase in purchasing second-hand pieces- amazingly there has been a 195,691% increase in purchases of second-hand designer fashion! Shopping second-hand is not only (typically) more affordable, but it is more sustainable and environmentally-friendly, preventing pieces from being sent to landfill.
6. Digitalisation
Throughout lockdown, technology has been a lifesaver when it comes to keeping in contact with friends and family, as well as keeping us entertained. This sentiment also rang true in the fashion industry. With the fashion calendar being directly impacted by the pandemic, several brands and designers experimented with immersive technologies to showcase their collections and carry out events online. For example, designer Steven Tai produced a virtual lookbook of 360-degree gifs of the collection for their buyers.
In-line with brands’ concerns with over-production of clothing, made-to-order software systems are being used in manufacturing to create one-off custom-made products, resulting in shorter lead-times. Moreover, technology is also being used in fashion marketing to digitalise fashion weeks and fashion shows. Showcasing fashion shows online is not particularly new in context of COVID-19, however, the British Fashion Council pioneered the digital fashion week this past June using their men’s fashion week.
This post highlights several positive developments in the fashion industry that have emerged as a result of the pandemic. With many aspects of the industry being put on hold or being forced to adapt, what better time to improve old practices and increase the rate at which it becomes truly sustainable!
Love LRFS x
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