Fashion councils mobilize to help designers during Covid-19 emergency

Key points to remember:

• The Covid-19 emergency has increased the number of services and support members of the fashion industry need from the official organizations that represent them.

• While facing different difficulties, the four fashion councils focus on supporting young designers and SMEs, who face increased financial risk.

• The next men’s clothing season has already been affected, with some organizations adopting joint physical and digital initiatives or completely canceling shows.

Heavily dependent on international supply chains, logistics and manual labor, the fashion industry has been particularly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has currently infected more than 638,000 people in 202 countries.

As China slowly reopens its manufacturers, the countries at the heart of the supply chain, including Italy, India and Bangladesh, remain stuck, with factories closed in some cases at least until the half April. Non-essential businesses, including luxury stores and fast fashion chains, are closed in Italy, the United Kingdom, France and part of the United States. About 20 percent of the world’s population is currently in detention or has been sentenced to shelter there.

New York, London, Milan and Paris are at different stages of the emergency, but as the epicenter of the pandemic sets west, fashion organizations, including the British Fashion Council, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the Camera Nazionale della Moda and the Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion are facing an unprecedented situation. Their members, the creators that make up the fabric of their fashion industries, need support.

This situation increases the number and the need for services that brands expect, explains Pascal Morand, Executive Chairman of FHCM. The fashion industry has been included in the 345 billion economic stimulus packages promulgated by the French government, but the Federation has worked to help its members navigate the new measures. One thing is to take action and another is how to implement it, and it’s a big job, he says.

In Italy, where all non-essential activities, including clothing manufacturing, were halted from March 21 to April 3, the Camera Nazionale della Moda was particularly active with the government, presenting a detailed list of requests to the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in particular: direct financial assistance to SMEs and craftspeople, temporary reduction of working time and creation of a redundancy fund. The CFDA also urged the U.S. government to include the industry in the recently approved $ 2 trillion economic bill in the Senate, while helping its members produce personal protective equipment, such as masks.

Freelancers are one of BFC’s most pressing concerns, which the board has highlighted as one of the first economies to be affected, as creators, photographers and models face job losses. According to a survey by the council and the Federation of Creative Industries, more than half of them expect their incomes to fall by more than 50%. The BFC has called for the creation of a $ 15 billion temporary income protection fund to provide all self-employed workers with monthly income that matches their current average income over the past three years.

The four organizations, while facing their unique challenges, were in contact to discuss the situation and exchange information. It is a common fight at the global level, says Morand.

Focus on young designers and SMEs

The lobby of Italian companies Confcommercio estimates this consumption of clothing, including shoes, will decrease by 11.3% in 2020. The sector, which will be the hardest hit after hotels, transport and culture, will record a total loss of 6.7 billion.

This closure and the worsening of the global situation put us before the need to save our supply chain, says Carlo Capasa, president of Camera Nazionale della Moda. Capasa describes the Italian supply chain as a network of micro-enterprises, artisans and large companies dependent on each other. The loss of the small and medium-sized enterprises that are at its heart, and which are currently most exposed to a shortage of cash, would endanger the entire supply chain. If you break a piece, the whole web collapses.

For this reason, the CNMI is asking the government to help companies which, in the past three years, have not reported any loss to rebalance their financial results in the likely case that they would suffer losses in 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic. This is the last resource for keeping certain types of businesses alive, especially small or medium-sized businesses, he says.

The CFDA and Vogue joined forces to launch A Common Thread, an initiative to reallocate the $ 700,000 originally intended to help emerging talents in American design with CFDA /Vogue Fashion Fund (Vogue Business and Vogue shares the same parent company, Cond Nast). Now the money will support the industry members most affected by the pandemic, including designers, tailors and seamstresses. A common thread is also a storytelling initiative through which the CFDA hopes to raise additional funds. The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation made an inaugural donation to the CFDA and the Vogue Fashion Fund on March 26, an undisclosed amount included in its total donation of $ 10 million in response to the Covid-19 emergency. Although the recipient settings have yet to be established, applications will open on April 8. We continue to reassess key moments in funding for the rest of 2020 to determine how best to use it, writes Steven Kolb, CEO and CFDA president, by email.

BFC has also pooled its support grants to launch the BFC Foundation Covid Crisis Fund, a million dollar fund to support design firms and students, while calling on government and industry to additional donations. To be eligible, applicants must have an established business, be registered in the UK and majority owned by the designer, and present a clear objective of how the grant will help them keep the business alive during the next year. Covid Crisis Funds’ goal is to support the next generation of creative talent, the BFC said in a statement.

We are all aware that we have to save the weakest part. Young designers, new brands, small and medium-sized businesses must be fully supported, explains Capasa.

The future of fashion week

The spring / summer 2021 season for men, which generally takes place in June and July in New York, Milan, Florence, London and Paris, has already been affected. The FHCM canceled Paris Fashion Week and haute couture week, while the CFDA canceled its Resort 2021 fashion shows and postponed its men’s fashion shows. Some are adopting new formats. Pitti Uomo, the biennial fair that brought 21,400 buyers to Florence in January, said it plans to launch a physical and digital event. CNMI, which is now hosting Milan Men’s Fashion Week in conjunction with Milan Women’s Fashion Week in September, said digital storytelling formats will be tested on the days initially scheduled for June.

We are assessing what will happen in June; we don’t know if we could do fashion week as we know it, so if something happens, it will be in different terms, says Capasa.

According to a document sent to members, BFC is looking to embrace digital and technological innovation for its June men’s fashion showcase, including live streaming, prerecorded content, podcasts and the opportunity for buyers to spend online orders. In addition, the four fashion weeks will be mixed, with men and women components.

“We are aware that many companies will not have collections in June and that these anticipate considerably reduced orders and, as a result, investment in salons may not be taken into account,” the statement said. “Our hope is that this new format will also respond to the practical and logistical challenges which we think that the designers who wish to present could be confronted in the light of Covid-19, being reduced collections, models that cannot travel or social distancing on the sites. “

The uncertainty surrounding the long-term consequences of pandemics makes it clear that it is important to receive advice and support from an overwhelming body capable of negotiating with governments and sharing resources with peers. It’s a full collective commitment, says Morand.

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