Will the pandemic kill high street fashion in favour of online?

Cheaper clothes sees UK inflation drop to 1.5%

“The world pandemic we are experiencing today is bringing many clothing (and not) retailers to file for bankruptcy, to close stores and fire employees.  With most of the UK and European population forced to stay at home, fashion trends and needs for clothing are shifting dramatically.  Dressing fancy for parties and dinners, or smart for work, is giving way to a one single dress-code for any occasion.  Shoes are not so necessary as they were until a few weeks ago.  Who needs a new shining pair of boots to move from the bathroom to the kitchen?  Some fashion hard-core style believers might still want to wear their stilettos while baking pizzas and cakes, but let’s be honest, most of us are happy with a pair of flip-flops or comfy socks.  Similarly, skirts, suits and shirts are giving way to sweatpants, joggers and pyjamas.  Even the queen of style, Anna Wintour, is working from home in her best sweatpants.  

It’s not only the shift in consumers’ needs that is driving this temporary change, but also the opportunity of accessing retailers is making some online brands thrive more than others.  Boohoo is just one of the many examples of retailers which is enjoying the fact that their supply chains and delivery networks are well organised to respond to people’s increasing demand for home deliveries – ask Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos how he is doing lately? (not that he was doing badly before).  While there are other online-only retailers, such as Ocado, which are hugely and unexpectedly failing.  Why did you establish an online-only business which is not delivering what expected in such a critical moment when you actually could have gained millions?  

It is just natural that many questions are rising.  Experts are predicting a new normal when lockdowns will be eased.  A new reality without fast fashion, with people looking for satisfying different needs, such as the incredible need for toilet paper and bikes.  But would this be the case?  Is this the death of fast fashion?  Is this the moment human beings will change their attitude towards shopping once and for all?  Or will it be just a reinvention and a cleansing of non-effective retailers and organisations?  Will people really change their buying behaviour or, down along the line in a year or two, will people just forget about what we are experiencing today and come back to a ‘new normal’, which will be very similar to the ‘old normal’ that we all recall?”