How is the Fashion Industry Coping with Covid19?

 

As the lights dimmed, signaling the start of another Paris fashion week show, an editor discreetly sneezed. The crowd seated near her jumped, with some guests looking nothing less than aghast. Blame it on the temperamental weather and equally scandalous time tables – or, blame it on Covid-19.

The fashion crowd had just returned from Milan, not far from the region where Covid-19, better known as the coronavirus, had started to spread, making Italy the second country struck with the pandemic after China. As Milan – and in the following days the whole country – rapidly shut down, putting one of Europe’s largest nations under quarantine, the fashion industry was quick to take action. Armani and Moncler, among others, decided the show would go on, albeit audience-free.

Back in Paris, the general attitude and well-entrenched behavioral patterns changed profoundly. “The climate switched within minutes; the usual bise was replaced by a distant wave; meetings, projects, and shows were rapidly canceled and a state of panic grew,” recalls Lara Abdessalem, an agent and producer at talent agency Newcomers. At the entrance of Dries Van Noten, antibacterial gel and masks were handed out, the latter increasingly displayed on the front row. Editors from major publications in China were home-bound; maisons like Louis Vuitton and Chanel prohibited their US-based staff from flying to the shows. APC, Agnès B, as well as Chinese houses Masha Ma, Maison Mai, and Shiatzy Chen canceled their presentations, and the annual LVMH Prize meet and greet was called off. On a larger scale, these measures proved to be all but futile. On the first day of fashion week, the number of reported cases in the country was 14; barely a week later, it had risen to more than 500. In March, the number of confirmed cases stood at almost 60,000, with more than 5,000 dead.

Chanel has since postponed its Métiers d’Arts show, due to take place in Beijing, as did Burberry for an upcoming Shanghai runway, Armani in Dubai, and Versace for a secret, US-held cruise presentation. Hermès, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Max Mara, and Prada all canceled upcoming shows and events in Paris and London, San Francisco, New York, Saint Petersburg, and Tokyo, respectively. The Met Gala has also been postponed indefinitely. As the pandemic rose to more than 340 000 cases around the globe, all forms of travel to and from most areas of the world has come to be seen as a potential threat.

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