CFDA, Vogue launches COVID-19 program – WWD

The heads of European and American fashion councils held an informal meeting Tuesday afternoon as each association asked their respective governments for targeted assistance following the coronavirus pandemic.

The meeting took place hours after the CFDA and Vogue revealed a new initiative to help fashion companies cope with the fallout from the crisis.

Different fashion groups may offer different solutions for local businesses and their respective economies, but the needs of brands and fashion designers are universal: many have cash flow problems, they are forced to sit in the fashion market. canceled orders, they have rent to pay and independent staff and talent to maintain. These designer brands will also need some marketing and publicity because it seems unlikely that men’s fashion weeks will return to normal in June, in just over two months. On Tuesday, the meeting was to include the heads of the CFDA, the British Fashion Council, the Camera della Moda and the Chambre Syndicale, who met to ensure that they were broadly aligned with their approach to the crisis and to discuss new opportunities for collaboration.

Meanwhile, the new CFDA / Vogue initiative resulted in a simple question from Anna Wintour to Tom Ford, CFDA president: “What can we do?”

Both notoriously proactive and fearless, they devised a plan in a few days: redirect the CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund, shifting the attention of emerging designers to the entire American fashion community which is badly affected financially by the fallout from the COVID-19.

The initiative, renamed A Common Thread, aims to raise awareness as well as money. Starting March 25, designers and those behind the scenes in the industry can submit videos in which they tell their fashion stories, including the impact of the pandemic on their careers and lives. The videos will be broadcast on the digital platforms of CFDA, Vogue and all Condé Nast titles. The program uses the hashtag #cvffacommonthread.

Wintour coined the name A Common Thread, whose logo features a sewing needle and red rose-shaped thread, the needle pulling the thread and piercing the flower. The word on the program will be communicated to CFDA members today in a letter written by Wintour, which she and Ford have signed.

“It is easy to feel helpless as information changes from hour to hour, and the challenges it presents seem to only grow and become more insurmountable over time,” he said.

To alleviate feelings of isolation and hopelessness, the message encourages members to take advantage of available city and state resources, listed on the CFDA website. “Yet,” continues the letter, “the question remains for us: what can we do to help?”

A common thread is the initial response of Wintour and Ford. Although the parameters of the fund have been fully defined, creators and brands seeking relief can apply on the CFDA website from April 8.

“We have created a fund, we now have to fill it. Then we need to determine who is receiving this money, “said Ford on Monday, noting that important details – criteria to be considered; who will decide how the funds will be allocated and to whom – “should be fleshed out”.

Already established: the program is open to designers and brands in the industry. They don’t have to be past CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund recipients, or even CFDA members. Although the selection committee remains to be determined, it will include people from inside and outside Vogue and the CFDA, according to Ford.

“We are rushing to put this in place as quickly as possible because we want to let everyone have a voice in this area. We want to do something, ”he said.

See also: The fashion industry comes together to fight the coronavirus pandemic

The CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund has awarded a $ 6.6 million prize since its creation, the most recent annual handbag totaling $ 700,000 divided between the winner and two finalists. These resources will be transferred to A Common Thread. In addition, there is an element of crowdfunding. To date, donors can contribute by sending a “thread” to 44321 or online at givelively.org, a fundraising platform for non-profit organizations. The suggested amounts vary from $ 5 to $ 100 on behalf of your number.

If this approach seems modest compared to the devastation caused by COVID-19, Ford and Wintour will likely seek contributions from major donors in the future.

“There is no reason why we are not going to attract larger companies for larger contributions at some point,” said Ford. “It will really depend on what happens after all this. If it only lasts three months, I think we will be able to raise more money than if it drags on and on. “

Yet it is one thing to offer a young, fledgling designer-led business a first prize of $ 400,000 and mentorship from an industry leader to help start their own business. It’s a whole other way to significantly help an entire and vast industry of thousands of companies, many of which were already faced before the virus struck, to rebound in an almost completely dark landscape, producing almost zero income for who knows how long. The level of relief required (if enough is enough) is more in line with that sought in a parallel CFDA effort led by Tory Burch, released this weekend – explicit inclusion in the federal stimulus package of nearly $ 2 trillion currently struggling in Congress.

Ford welcomed this effort and stressed the need for its success. “I have to say that Tory has done a great job,” he said. He added that although the letter sent to President Trump and signed by the CFDA and a host of other industry organizations “is fairly general”, in the backstage discussions, “people were getting quite specific”.

In comparison, what a common thread can offer is modest. “We are not senators,” said Ford, noting that the two efforts serve overlapping goals but are not identical.

Therefore, the narrative component of a common thread should resonate powerfully. “There is symbolism and in a way, maybe it’s the biggest part – uploading videos, putting faces to all those who are unemployed, who need a job, in their giving a place where they can communicate that. I think the power of that will affect the funds that we are able to raise and from whom.

“Whether you are a dressmaker or a dressmaker, whether you work in a store, whether you are a fashion designer, whether you are someone who won the Vogue / CFDA Fashion Fund, you [send in] videos on the site, “said Ford. “I think the more faces we can put on people who are suffering, the more we can get help.”

See also: fashion groups seek government assistance

To this end, fashion suffers from an image problem. Although a huge industry that is at the heart of the economy and employs, including retail, millions of workers in a wide range of disciplines, mostly inglorious, at every level of pay imaginable, usually when people think of the fashion industry, they don’t conjure up images of seamstresses, model makers, production people and retailers. Instead, they envision his glamorous deities – celebrities like Wintour and Ford.

Worse, they often project a world into a bubble, an elite bubble, exquisitely dressed whose inhabitants live to be at the front of the next launch of hot handbag while displaying a chic attitude. “Let’s be honest, a lot of people think fashion is frivolous,” said Ford.

Wintour recognizes that the perception is not only wrong but dangerous, especially now. “[Too many people] think of fashion in a very narrow sense, “she told WWD on Sunday. “They don’t think of all the different layers involved, whether it’s the factories or the supply chain or those who supply the raw materials, or the truck drivers who deliver the goods. It spans so many different ways. I think it is the largest employer in the country. People don’t think of it that way. They see it as a niche activity and it is a mistake. “

One whose fashion itself must accept a share of responsibility. “People see the shiny surface,” said Ford. “This is what we, fashion designers and the fashion industry, work to show the world – we work to show people the shiny surface that drives them to buy and buy the products.” They are therefore not aware of everything that is going on behind. “

This must change now. “We have to educate,” proposed Ford.

This shows the importance of the A Common Thread video project. “It’s very important to put faces to it,” he said, noting the resonance power of Tom and Rita Hanks to publicize their diagnoses, as well as the tragedy of the New Jersey family who lost four members because of COVID-19. “When you see the photos, when you hear the stories,” said Ford, “it affects you much more emotionally than the statistics.”

Meanwhile, CFDA project manager Cal McNeil said in a statement that the association has been working with various working groups for two weeks to help produce PPE and connect the industry with the right resources.

He said: “We urge those who can offer medium or large scale production of PPE products to fill out the NYCEDC form here so that they can review the resources you can provide and make references to other resources that have been put together. “

He added: “The CFDA also asks those who contribute to the production of PPE to ensure that they produce goods that can be useful to the most critical groups such as health professionals or those in first line to fight this virus. “

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