COVID-19 IMPACT

Impact on the Industry

Throughout my courses this semester, I have learned and researched how the coronavirus crisis has affected every aspect of the fashion sector on a global and national level. The current state of the textile and apparel industry has been majorly affected by the pandemic, which has caused a rise in many challenges and macro issues within the retail sector. Many of these challenges that the T&A industry is facing are those that will be extremely relevant throughout the decade to come. Brands and retailers have no control over what is affecting them from the perspective of the macro environment, and there are a number of rising challenges and issues in the industry, such as supply chain shortages, lack of sustainability, changes in consumer buying behavior, exploited workers, and the rise of automation and digitization. Given this situation, the global pandemic has created an automatic reset to the industry and a jumpstart to creating changes to these matters that we otherwise may have seen emerge later in the future. The future of the industry is at stake if brands and retailers do not use this crisis as an opportunity to find solutions to the rising issues and to develop innovations for the future. It is difficult to predict what the rest of the pandemic will look like. However, for retailers, it should be a time for them to look for opportunities in the challenges that have arisen during these unprecedented times. Instead of feeling defeated, huge implications have emerged for the future of brands and retailers in the fashion industry. If these opportunities are jumped on now, the industry can come out of the crisis stronger, and ready to succeed in the 'new normal'. Overall, fashion brands and retailers have no control over what is occurring in the macroenvironment; however, they can look at how it is affecting operations externally and shift gears.