Fashion stores in eight regions, home to major cities including Paris, Lille, and Nice, will remain closed for at least a month during the country’s third shutdown for businesses deemed “non-essential.” In a statement Monday, the womenswear trade association Fédération Française du Prêt à Porter Féminin said the fashion sector had been “abandoned” by the government, and warned economy minister Bruno Le Maire that without additional support many fashion businesses would not be able to bounce back.

The French lockdown announced Thursday concerns roughly one-third of the country’s population and is aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus as rollout of the vaccine fails to keep up with new cases and hospitalisations.

French fashion sales fell by 15 percent last year, the trade group said. Several of the country’s high street brands, including Naf Naf, Camaieu and André, filed for bankruptcy during the year.