On May 21st, The Council of Fashion Designers (CFDA) and The British Fashion Council (BFC) released a statement urging fashion designers to slow-down and re-evaluate the repercussions of fast-fashion in a post-pandemic world. “Together, we strongly recommend designers focus on no more than two main collections a year,” the statement reads. “We firmly believe this can provide our talents with the time they need to reconnect to the creativity and craft that makes our field so unique in the first place. A slower pace also offers an opportunity to reduce the stress levels of designers and their teams, which in turn will have a positive effect on the overall wellbeing of the industry.”
From the onset of this crisis, the CFDA and BFC have been in close communication, sharing feedback from their members and stakeholders. The CFDA and BFC can share the common perspectives of their members and organizations.
“We encourage our brands, designers and retailers, who are used to fashion’s fast, unforgiving pace, to slow down. For a long time, there have been too many deliveries and too much merchandise generated. With existing inventory stacking up, designers and retailers must also look at the collections cycle and be very strategic about their products and how and when they intend to sell them. There is a clear disconnect from when things arrive in-store to when the customer actually needs them. The delivery cadence should shift closer to the season for which it is intended.
Once this crisis is over and non-virtual events can resume, we also recommend that brands attempt to show during the regular fashion calendar and in one of the global fashion capitals in order to avoid the strain on buyers and journalists traveling constantly. This too has placed tremendous stress on the industry and significantly increased each individual’s carbon footprint.
Sustainability is an important conversation in every industry. Through the creation of less product, with higher levels of creativity and quality, products will be valued and their shelf life will increase. The focus on creativity and quality of products, reduction in travel and focus on sustainability (something we encourage of the entire industry) will increase the consumer’s respect and ultimately their greater enjoyment in the products that we create.
The need to align as a global industry during these times has become more apparent. We will continue to work side-by-side, while each city will develop its own local initiatives. Fashion is a business of creativity and new ideas and difficult times are also ones for innovation. We will work to our industry’s benefit as we reimagine and create, with our members and partners, a successful future.
We all understand the difficulties that all of you are going through in this devastating time and are here to help you and provide information in any way that we can.”
To read the full statement click here.
