The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
THE CHEAT SHEET
Bankruptcy Court’s Newest Graduates
J.C. Penney | Source: Shutterstock
The Bottom Line: The trend of malls owning their most troubled tenants is the latest chapter in a story many expected to be wrapped up by now. It's been conventional wisdom for a decade that there are too many stores competing for the attention of American shoppers, but there's too much money sunk into brands and the malls that house them for investors, landlords and creditors to pull the plug.
Fashion Week's Make-or-Break Moments
David Koma's Autumn/Winter 2020 show during London Fashion Week | Source: Getty Images
Fast Fashion's Slow Recovery
The owners of both Zara and H&M will give sales updates this week. | Source: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
The pandemic has acted as an accelerant for the long-term trends reshaping the fashion industry, and many brands find themselves ill-equipped to handle a reality they thought would take years or even decades longer to arrive. Fast fashion's giants have had an easy time adjusting to the shift from officewear to loungewear; after all, they are set up to chase trends the moment they surface on Instagram. The owners of Zara and H&M said earlier in the pandemic they were confident that sales would quickly rebound. This week, we'll see if they were right.
Zara and H&M were also in the middle of digital pivots before Covid-19 touched off an e-commerce boom, though the jury was still out on whether those efforts were bearing fruit. Inditex's announcement that it would close 1,200 stores was an indication that the company expects a permanent shift in consumer behaviour.
The Bottom Line: Watch for whether these companies address the resale market, which has gotten a big boost during the pandemic. (Hennes & Mauritz's Cos brand launched resale earlier this month.) Though still small, sites that make it easy for consumers to buy and sell used clothes play a similar role in allowing budget-conscious shoppers to keep their closets fresh.
SUNDAY READING
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The Montreal-based e-commerce retailer laid off 138 employees last week, or 7 percent of its total workforce.
The fast-fashion retailer has seen sales decline in six of the last seven months, as the novelty of its endless selection of trendy, ultra-cheap clothes wears off.
Ten years after inception, the fast-growing premium jeans maker is betting on the power of the runway.
Pandemic-related disruptions of supply chains may be dissipating, but the pressure on brands to mitigate the risks of bottlenecks is not.