After an initial outbreak in China's Hubei province, the coronavirus (technically called SARS-CoV-2) is now a worldwide pandemic.
At the time of writing there has been 2,015,571 cases, of which 127,635 died.
With this new virus, there has been a lot of uncertainty due to the insufficient information and the lack of a cure. Because of the seriousness of the virus, a lot of precautions has been taken. I will be focusing on the impacts the virus has had and is having on the Fashion Industry.
With the current situation worldwide, one comes to wonder: what are the consequences of the coronavirus and how big of an impact is it having on the fashion Industry?
As the corona virus continuously spreads, so does the impact. With the growing virus, many companies have had to let go of a lot of their workers, close their stores and even postpone scheduled merchandise production. Many big companies has already seen a big dip in the sales and the fast fashion store, Hennes & Mauritz, has stated a 46% decline in sales in March 2020 and has therefore also been forced to close many of their stores. Out of the 5065 stores that the company has in the US and in Europe, H&M has closed 3788 since march 31.
High fashion is also taking a hit. The Design house of Chanel announced on March 18, that they are halting production in its facilities in Italy, France and Switzerland for the next two weeks, but their workers will still be paid.
Other big companies as Gucci has announced they will be shutting production for a couple of weeks, also as a precaution.
Another issue is that many high-profile individuals have also been tested positive for COVID-19. One of them being Italian footwear designer Sergio Rossi, who passed away from the virus on April 3. He was 84 years old. This also has consequences for the future of the Sergio Rossi brand and company.
Major Fashion events and fashion shows has been either canceled or postponed indefinitely, as a precaution because of the virus. Australia fashion week, Paris fashion week and Sao Paulo Fashion week which was scheduled to occur from 24 of april to 28, are three of the many which has been forced to cancel or postpone due to the virus.
Overall everyone is suffering in some way due to the pandemic, and the future of many brands are uncertain at the moment.
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