Do some cursory research (check out the website the Business of Fashion, or the New York Times, for example) on how the fashion industry is responding to this moment. You can focus on the workers (retail sales people, garment makers, factory workers, influencers, social media teams) or the companies themselves. How does a company promote itself in these times? Do you sense a shift in tone via a company’s social media? Are they discussing their workers? Do you see a disconnect between how the fashion industry is responding, or promoting its role vs how you/your friends/everyday people are responding?
During these quarantine days, the world economy is being severely affected by the closing of stores and the total unemployment of the population, which is forced to stay at home so as not to increase the cases of contagion by COVID-19.
The big fashion brands are facing this situation by doing “branding”, that is, continuing to communicate with the consumer, but in a different way. Now the objective is not to sell the product itself, but to give a solidarity image and implement the Corporate Social Responsibility of each company.
An example is Zara, which returns to its origins. The global pandemic caused by the coronavirus has caused large companies to get down to work to supply sanitary materials and/or allocate resources to face the great global pandemic caused by the coronavirus.
Inditex, one of the most profitable Spanish companies with a global reach, will start manufacturing robes, the garment with which Amancio Ortega began his foray into the world of fashion and which he marketed under the name of confections GOA (Amancio Ortega Gaona, upside down), a brand dedicated to the production of bathrobes.
Now they will not have a commercial purpose but will be intended solely and exclusively for the use of health personnel.
Likewise, Inditex has also made available to the Government all its logistical, supply and commercial management capacity, especially from China, “to meet the emergency needs, both for medical and textile materials, which are currently needed”.
The company will make at least one weekly shipment of the material that it buys directly. At this time, 10,000 protective masks have already been donated and at the end of this week, another 300,000 additional protective surgical masks are scheduled to be sent.
Business groups Adidas and H&M have sparked a wave of outrage in Germany by announcing their intention not to pay more for rents on their business premises and establishments that have had to close due to the coronavirus health crisis.
Chanel, the great French luxury house, announced this week that it is giving up its factories located in the French capital to contribute to the fight against the Coronavirus. Its great talent, sewing, will be made available to the only garment that matters these days: the mask.
Chanel’s facilities will not only be used to manufacture masks but also protective gowns will be made for toilets and disinfectant gels. The haute couture firm is one of the latest in the sector to join the wave of solidarity that has sparked the necessary fight against COVID-19. A crisis in which health protection equipment and equipment for those infected by the virus, such as respirators or beds, are especially scarce.
Gucci has positioned itself for a long time as one of the most active brands on social networks and that they make the best use of images and memes to communicate their message. Now he’s using that ability to raise his voice about something entirely different: the COVID-19.
Together with the World Health Organization (WHO) Gucci is fighting against the expansion and spread of the coronavirus. On the one hand, the brand is donating $ 2.2 million to the campaigns of the Italian Civil Protection and the United Nations COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as one of the steps in its battle against the virus.
Besides, leaving the monetary part aside, Gucci is creating a whole library of memes for publications on their official profiles on their social networks. The idea is to communicate the WHO message that calls the responsibility of citizens. The slogan is clear: “We are in this together.” Anyone who wants can join through the ‘Donate’ Instagram stickers that Gucci has put into action. With this action, the money raised will go to the two campaigns in which the luxury company has been involved.
Balmain, Alexander McQueen, Karl Lagerfeld, and Gucci launched new initiatives, like yoga classes and live DJ performances, as well as online stock video catalogs, 3D creation courses, and online embroidery. To connect with its 40.1 million followers, Milan-based Gucci even devised a podcast with a course on health and wellness in association with The Sex Ed, a digital platform focused on wellness and sexuality.
In short, Fashion brands have begun interacting with their huge global communities through social media to foster creativity, healthy lifestyles, and interconnectivity during this era of global isolation caused by the coronavirus. This helps people, even those who do not usually buy these brands, have a positive image of them and, after the COVID-19 crisis, continue to earn more than before.
A Day in the Life 