The fashion industry is without doubt on partial recess across the world. All over the globe, at this time of the year, various fashion designs and styles are usually churned out, with millions of buyers going for their summer wardrobe.
At this time of the year, several fashion shows would already have been held in many places across the globe. As all shows and events are currently on a compulsory standstill, the fashion industry is not left out.
Majors players in the industry, from textile manufacturers to designers, fashion models, and show planners, careers are faced with a tough challenge. Fashion models and show planners are currently out of job. Global lockdown doesn’t allow shows at the moment.
Clothing sales is reported to be an unprecedented decline of about 50%.
The African fashion industry is not left out of the global economic challenge caused by the deadly corona virus.
The Cosmic Ray Fashion reporter, Ruth Johnson, went out to see how the industry is doing and interviewed a couple of fashion designers and other players in the industry.
“I’ve asked some of my tailors to go for now, as demands for our clothes have seriously reduced,” says Caroline Adesanya, CEO of the C-Line Klothin.
“People are not buying clothes for now. They’re majorly on survival mode. Buying a dress, for now, has gone beyond secondary need,” says Chioma Kimekwu, a fashion trader.
The CEO of Mistics Couture, Onome Ikhimioya, has this to say; “The fashion industry is looking for ways to survive now. You can see we have all resorted to making face masks.”
For the fashion designer, Giben Adams, nothing really is lost yet. He says, “We are still working. We had several orders before this pandemic started. The lockdown sort of offers us an opportunity to finish with orders and now focus on our major objective for the year 2020.” But Adams has his fear. “My worry however is that no one really knows when this whole thing will be over, because as long as it’s still out there, I’ll not be able to travel to buy my materials for sewing.”
“I have several designs on ground. In as much as clothes are not like food items that can spoil with time, they can go out of style and lose value,” Henrietta Giwa said.
It’s without doubt a really trying time for many industries. Many economies in the world may go on recession, as some are already. When the economy is bad, the fashion industry will be affected as people may not have the money to buy clothes.
