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Unsuitable for the new era? The fate of formal fashion hangs by a thread

 


By Silvia Aloisi, Jonathan Barrett and Martinne Geller

MILAN / SYDNEY / LONDON (Reuters) – Italian luxury designer Brunello Cucinelli makes men’s suits that sell for up to 7,000 euros ($ 8,200). But even he – like most people around the world – hasn’t worn a suit in months, let alone bought one.

“We’ve all been locked up at home, so this is the first jacket I’ve worn since March,” Cucinelli told Reuters in Milan as he showed off his latest collection in September, wearing a light gray blazer.

Most of the people in “white collar” jobs work from home, with a new love for sweatpants, a trend some experts expect to survive the pandemic. And few, if any, weddings or parties take place.

This change in seismic behavior is having a profound impact on the entire costume and formal wear supply chain, disrupting a clothing industry spanning every continent.

In Australia, the world’s largest producer of merino wool, prices have fallen freely, reaching their lowest level in ten years. Many sheep farmers are in dire straits, storing wool in every available shed in the hope of a rebound.

In northern Italy, woolen factories that buy from farmers and weave the fabric for high-end suits have seen their own orders from retailers take a nosedive.

In the US and Europe, several retail chains specializing in workwear such as Men’s Wearhouse, Brooks Brothers and TM Lewin have closed stores or filed for bankruptcy in recent months, with more to follow. .

Players of all skill levels have told Reuters they are forced to adapt in order to survive, from farmers turning to other forms of farming, to factories making more stretchy fabrics for a new breed of suits that don’t fit. do not wrinkle easily and are more resistant to stains.

“People want to be more comfortable and are less inclined to wear a formal suit,” said Silvio Botto Poala, general manager of Lanificio Botto Giuseppe, a wool factory located in the Italian textile center of Biella which has Armani, Max Mara, Ralph Lauren and Hermes among his clients.

“With Zoom lectures and smart work, you’ll see men wearing a shirt, maybe even a tie, but not a lot of suits.”

MERINO FARMERS HOLD ON

Prices for fine wool in Australia have more than halved during a tumultuous 18-month period, as generally healthy purchases of merino wool from Italian factories almost came to a halt.

The benchmark price for merino wool fell to AU $ 8.58 (AU $ 6.1) per kg in early September, according to auction results, from AU $ 20.16 in early 2019. It has since fallen in part. restored to just over A $ 10.

Andrew Blanch, managing director of New England Wool in New South Wales, which sources wool from farms for Italian textile manufacturers, said many buyers now had oversupply.

“They all have wool that they have to get rid of before they even get back to the market here,” said Blanch, speaking over the phone of wool auctions in Sydney’s western suburbs.

“If the stores are not open, everything is fine. Many of the orders we purchased wool against were canceled by their customers in the United States and Europe.

He said that China, which alongside Italy buys most of the annual wool exports of over A $ 3 billion, was now “the only trade fair in town”, although Chinese buyers were also buying less. oldest boy.

Many Merino sheep farmers store their wool in sheds or storage facilities; although some who are still emerging from a three year drought are selling their bales in the weak market to stay financially afloat.

“Not everyone is big enough to keep their wool clip and wait for the price to change,” said Dave Young, a farmer near the town of Yass in New South Wales. “We are in the position where we have to meet the market in a relatively short time after the cut.”

Young, who has around 4,500 sheep on his property, said he had refocused some operations to provide lamb meat instead.

WOOL GLOVE

A jump in the food chain to northern Italy, and Botto Poala expects sales of his mill to drop 25% from € 63m last year and will take 2-3 years to recover.

However, her business is to some extent isolated as it mainly manufactures fabrics for women; others are more pessimistic.

“For some companies we are talking about a 50-80% drop in sales,” said Ettore Piacenza, general manager of the Fratelli Piacenza woolen mill, a century-old family business with an annual turnover of 52 million. ‘euros. He also heads the wool spinning department of the local trade association.

Botto Poala said that more than 50% of his factory’s turnover now comes from wool which has been made more stretchable by processing in a particular way or adding lycra to it.

This is because whatever the demand for suits is, it is more likely for fabrics that are more stain resistant and do not wrinkle easily, when these fabrics can also be used for casual wear, according to the factories. of wool.

The Italian luxury brand Etro, for example, has just launched a “24-hour jacket” in jersey and a blend of wool and cotton.

“ MY CLIENTS ARE ON PJ ”

A gradual movement towards casual wear has been going on for years. In 2019, even Goldman Sachs – a bastion of tailor-made suits – relaxed the dress code for its staff. Not to mention the rise of the Silicon Valley hipster crowd.

But COVID has accelerated this change – increasing sales of comfort clothing and athletic wear at the expense of workwear.

In the second quarter of this year, with much of the world on lockdown, Nike was the hottest brand according to Lyst, a global fashion research platform that analyzes the behavior of more than nine million online shoppers. per month.

It was the first time since the launch of the Lyst Index that a luxury fashion brand did not take the top spot.

Gap’s Athleta unit, which sells tights, joggers, sweatshirts and workout tops, was its top performing fashion line in the three months leading up to August 1. Sales were up 6%, compared to a 52% drop at Banana Republic, known for its dressier outfits.

The costumes ranked among the cheapest and best-selling items in France, Italy and Germany in September, according to data compiled by StyleSage, which compares prices on websites.

Cheaper mid-market labels like Asos, Topman, Guess and Hugo Boss recorded the largest markdowns, up to 50%.

The collapse in demand for office clothing drove reputable US retailers, including Jos as well. A. Bank and J. Crew to file for bankruptcy over the summer and many other retailers face an uncertain future.

Retail consultancy Coresight Research predicts that 20,000 to 25,000 U.S. stores could close by the end of the year, up from around 9,800 in 2019.

“I admit I haven’t bought any office clothes this year. I can tell you as you walk around town there are very few costumes on display,” said James Whitaker, partner at the firm of lawyers Mayer Brown in London.

Indeed, business has been “extremely slow” even since the lockdown ended for Jasper Littman, a tailor trained in Savile Row, the London street renowned for its bespoke tailoring for men.

Littman said his clients, mostly lawyers and bankers, “are sitting at home in their pajamas.”

It typically makes around 200 costumes a year, but has only made 63 so far in 2020.

Customers are reluctant to take the risk of taking the train to collect even the wetsuits already made with a deposit paid.

“There’s no point in doing that, because they’ll be taking delivery of a costume they can’t wear.”

(1 USD = 1.4017 Australian dollar; 1 USD = 0.8503 euros)

(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi in Milan, Jonathan Barrett in Sydney and Martinne Geller in London; Additional reporting by Jill Gralow, Carolyn Cohn and Aleksandra Michalska; Editing by Pravin Char)

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