Will Covid 19 Change The Way We Shop?

[Faust]

Just wanted to post this here. Discuss.

NEW YORK, United States — Recently a lot has been said by various prognosticators about how the fashion industry will change in the post-Covid-19 world. Prognosis is good business in the times of upheavals because a lot of panic-stricken people are glued to screens searching for answers. However, research shows that most of prognosticators get it wrong. Why do they persist? Because if they are right, one theory says, they get to beat their chest about it, and if they are wrong, well, people simply won't remember.
Plenty of recent prognoses have been predicting that the coronavirus crisis will prompt fashion consumers to reassess their values and shift their spending away from fast fashion and flashy, marketing-driven luxury megabrands towards quality, sustainability and general sobriety. We will consume less and consume more mindfully and responsibly, so they say. I am here to tell you that, unfortunately, they are wrong.


https://www.businessoffashion.com/ar...nt-count-on-it

[shropshire]

I'm sure that if there will be changes, our fashion designers will find a way to make both ends meet.

[supercilious]

Haha I read it the other day from their site and recognized your writing halfway through--

My hopes aren't in consumers here-- but I hope covid will catalyze designer's desires to update themselves. It's a shock to me that no one is taking digital fashion seriously, or (other than abasi rosborough and a few others) exploring modern business models like dtc

[mindreader]

The link says "page not found"

[Anton]

I think it's more of a positive outlook rather than a realistic one, with the business sentiment of limitless growth the sustainable ethical model is simply not possible. Why would LVMH or Kering lose profits? Unless they do a complete shift in the way they do business and think about growth this scenario is unlikely to happen and we will fairly quickly get back to the exact situation that was here before Covid19. Furthermore, these companies and similar ones have investors, investments, business plans and much more that they need to think about and answer to. Contradictory to what may be perceived by a lot people, it's not a single persons decision to make the change, this requires a massive structural and even societal change to shift consumption habits (fashion is just one industry).

[nobodycansaveus]

Another great article Mr. Faust, although it is very discouraging the state of consumerism in which we are enthralled in. Never before have we had so much power as consumers (whole) yet we find ourselves (masses) still driven under the guises of the major luxury brands. What a world we live in.

[darkpyramid]

Fast fashion suffer unexpected thing and sure they have to rearrange all their papers again, zara scored 0 sales in many countries for days and in middle east countries for weeks, even that is not the end of nightmare it's just the beginning

Always consider shopping is not human behavior it's culture!
For those who throw tons of garments in FFF retails then throw again by consumers in trash after just one use of them, they get hurt during covid 19, and they have to pay for that simply because they give a shit about professional fashion industry rules
Just i compared between Geoffrey B. Small fans when they asked Geoffrey about his health even asked about his team during covid 19 days and the consumers of zara, H&M...... etc which stop their purchases with don't giving a shit to FFF stores and sales men, staff... etc who loses their jobs by covid 19, exactly the same situation to the fast fashion kings who don't give a shit to their consumers and only thinking how to reduce their cost by releasing their employees and shut their stores till the covid 19 end

A deep look to Geoffrey B. Small, why his sales didn't hurt by covid 19,and why he didn't release some of his team to reduce the cost even his funding power by all logic methods is weaker than zara, H&M. as compared
The reason why Geoffrey B. Small survive from covid 19 sales down is the culture, the culture which he teaches it to his fans and the respect of his fans to him by the same thing (the culture)

Shopping in fashion is not mass stupid things throw to consumers for stupid cheap prices
Fast fashion lords thought that, and they sure of they vision by growing sales and profitability statistics till covid 19 come and destroy the false vision

Now they have again to turn their sights to Geoffrey B. Small fans and how by god they asked Geoffrey and his team to stay safe!
They now have to analyze the reason of this strong deep relation between Geoffrey as designer and his fans

Sure thing covid 19 will change the shopping methods, but it doesn't matter to continue in brick and mortar or converted to digital fashion era

Covid19 teaches them hard lesson, to survive with your business, you have to build your business by culture

One day this culture will protect your business exactly as Geoffrey B. Small approved that to the fast fashion lords

[noStyleKyle]

I largely agree with your post. The problem with an abstract ideal like sustainable fashion is that it can take quiet a bit of detective effort to find out if what you are buying really matches the abstraction in your head. Most people (myself often included) have zero desire to do this detective digging EVERY time we purchase something, so we end up talking a good game at lunch with our friends but our purchasing patterns do not match the talk.

Also your first paragraph reminds me of Nassim Taleb, he has been railing against professional "predictors" for well over a decade now.

[Faust]

I think it's more of a positive outlook rather than a realistic one, with the business sentiment of limitless growth the sustainable ethical model is simply not possible. Why would LVMH or Kering lose profits? Unless they do a complete shift in the way they do business and think about growth this scenario is unlikely to happen and we will fairly quickly get back to the exact situation that was here before Covid19. Furthermore, these companies and similar ones have investors, investments, business plans and much more that they need to think about and answer to. Contradictory to what may be perceived by a lot people, it's not a single persons decision to make the change, this requires a massive structural and even societal change to shift consumption habits (fashion is just one industry).

Bingo

[Faust]

I largely agree with your post. The problem with an abstract ideal like sustainable fashion is that it can take quiet a bit of detective effort to find out if what you are buying really matches the abstraction in your head. Most people (myself often included) have zero desire to do this detective digging EVERY time we purchase something, so we end up talking a good game at lunch with our friends but our purchasing patterns do not match the talk.

Also your first paragraph reminds me of Nassim Taleb, he has been railing against professional "predictors" for well over a decade now.

That's exactly it. For a while thought that if we wage a successful campaign like that against smoking, we will succeed. But then I realized that campaign against smoking stressed people's immediate self-interest. How do you do that with climate change or ethical production? We don't realize how enlightened we are here. The masses simply are not aware or don't give a shit. Not when it's happening in a far away country with brown children making their clothes. If it was THEIR children making it, that would be another story.

[shropshire]

Yes, definitely it will

[Faust]

Two weekends ago in SoHo, first day of fall weather, it was like nothing happened. Streets full of people, lines for every store.

[printerhpsupport]

of-course, Covid-19 is going to change the way of shopping.

[Elika]

The collective will of the masses is still for everything to go back to "business as usual" because social and cultural mores have not changed. People still want to believe they can become filthy rich, eat fast food, wear fast fashion, and do their best to not think about consequences or reality.