With US legislators debating laws to deter the use of forced Uygur labour in China, and the garment industry in crisis after coronavirus, now is the time for apparel brands to pressure Beijing, a rights advocate says.

Rimowa, Samsonite and Away stores are shut, while a 106-year-old luggage firm, Antler, has gone bust. Brands need new products and a switch to direct selling.

Chinese tourists could start visiting Hong Kong as early as the end of May if travel restrictions are relaxed, but a resumption of the city’s anti-government protests, and cheaper luxury goods at home, could see many still stay away.

Companies including Walmart and Gap won’t commit to paying in full for recent garment orders. This has forced factories to lay off staff, who lack financial support and may be vulnerable to slavery.

The men and women who prep A-list clients for glamour appearances should have been at the Met Gala on Monday, and getting ready to jet off to Cannes. The coronavirus has wiped their diaries, and put their future in doubt.

Much like the health crisis itself, brands that went into it in good health will survive. But they will have to change, move more sales online, and take a less-is-more approach to collections. Then they have to hope consumers want to shop.

Major sports events have been cancelled but Nike posted healthy digital sales returns in China, despite an overall fall. Is that a sign of what could happen to the sportswear, athleisure and activewear markets amid the coronavirus?

As China and South Korea deal with the virus pandemic, North Korea appears to be free of infection. This could be a boom time for manufacturing in the hermit state, with its cheap labour and lack of worker protection.

US trade tariffs, Brexit, Asian competition and casual trends have all had an impact on Savile Row, but the famous tailoring street is fighting back, with aggressive marketing in China and online, and younger tailors.

Streetwear brands like Supreme and Bape that are acquired by big apparel groups and become mainstream are forced to find a balance between their anti-establishment roots and keeping investors happy. Do they manage it?

From Burberry and Victoria Beckham to high street brands, the coronavirus is hitting global fashion production hard as factories in China halt work, with fears of serious long-term complications if the outbreak continues later into the year.

Where once they started in Hong Kong, some international fashion labels looking to break into mainland China are bypassing the city and taking their wares straight to mainland shoppers.

China buys, produces and exports most of the world’s clothing, but most Western consumers would struggle to name a Chinese fashion brand. We look at how this can change – starting with labels learning to tell their own story.

Move over, millennials – labels are targeting the younger Generation Z as their next big market, thanks to the rise of young internet influencers who eschew established brands such as Supreme for independent names.

Rich Chinese students in the US, Europe, Canada and Australia are using their huge allowances to fund luxury shopping sprees, creating an industry aimed at marketing goods to them that they then promote on Chinese social media.

The fashion industry has ways to help people, such as protesters, defeat facial recognition systems: make up your face in swirls, odds shapes and primary colours, wear a decoy T-shirt, or don a hairpiece with spikes or a fringe obscuring half your face.

Fashion manufacturing was shifting out of China before Donald Trump’s election, thanks to rising costs and China’s desire to move up the value chain. For suppliers, Vietnam is first choice for footwear, while Bangladesh has a skilled workforce.

Shoppers in China born since the mid-1990s spend more than counterparts in other markets, but getting their custom is a challenge for Western luxury brands.

The decade-old Masterpiece London fair – set to show in Hong Kong in October – wants to encourage everyone from connoisseurs to casual browsers to explore various disciplines.

A generation of Chinese mums has grown up with the internet. ‘Mommy blogs’ and social media posts by ‘normal’ women about their kids’ fashion choices have more influence on these millennial mothers’ childrenswear purchases than KOLs.

At home in Europe, their biggest overseas customer segment is Chinese, and now Fortnum & Mason is opening in China and Galeries Lafayette is adding more stores there. A brand consultant has a word of warning.

Italy was the first G7 country to endorse China’s Belt and Road initiative, making it easier to access each other’s products. Meanwhile, the Italian fashion industry is working to break the stigma around Chinese designers.

Young people look obsessively through heavily filtered photos of influencers on Instagram, Snapchat and Weibo, and of themselves, then ask surgeons to copy them – a phenomenon known as Snapchat dysmorphia.

Despite their celebrity status and huge Instagram following in the West, many influencers lack understanding of how Chinese social media works. That Kardashian and others post their Weibo content in English shows the problem.

Quant opened a boutique on London’s King’s Road in 1955, gave the miniskirt its name and dominated young women’s fashion in the ’60s. An exhibition of her work which runs until 2020 is a reminder of her place in fashion history.

From Nigeria to Cape Town, African fashion designers are going out to the world and winning fans. Maki Oh, Lisa Folawiyo, Kenneth Ize, Thebe Magugu, Laduma Ngxokolo – these are some of the names fashion followers need to know.

Since setting up her label in 2014, London-based designer Rejina Pyo has produced some of the most talked about items in the fashion industry.

Think yellow, floral, checks and boho this spring and summer – and don’t forget bags

Goddard’s designs have a real girlishness underlaid with rebelliousness. The designer talks about starting out, Brexit and the avoidance of perfection.