Coronavirus: How’s the health of the fashion industry in the midst of the crisis?

As the death toll from the novel coronavirus approaches 1,000 – with more than 40,000 people infected – Jing Daily has spoken to stakeholders from luxury brands to small fashion business owners, lawyers and consumers to understand how the luxury fashion industry is coping with the growing crisis.

Supply chain disruptions

“Many industry trade shows are now cancelled,” said Vincent Djen, the director of Cheng Kung Garments and the chief strategy officer of REmakeHub, a company that provides circular solutions for plastic waste. Spinexpo, the industry sourcing exhibition dedicated to innovation in yarns, fibres, and knitwear, and the China (Shanghai) International Optics Fair, which are usually held in Shanghai in February, have both been postponed.

Two Chinese staffers, one from a luxury brand and another from a beauty company, said that they are working off-site to revise their planning and projections for the first half of the year. Many industry insiders have shared concerns about whether Milan Fashion Week in late February and Shanghai Fashion Week in late March will go ahead.

The postponing of trade and fashion shows may lead to a slowdown in new business, but a more immediate concern is the disruption of the supply chain. Many factories have delayed resuming production following the Lunar New Year break because of the fear of inappropriate health procedures for their workers, which will have a ripple-on effect throughout the global fashion production cycle.

Djen says most of the autumn 2020 collection orders from Europe arrive in February, with manufacturing taking place in March to meet the major delivery month of April. This could now could be delayed until May or June. As a result of the crisis, the production of the autumn and winter collections may also be delayed if the situation worsens, affecting most European companies who rely heavily on Chinese manufacturers.