Fashion news-makers 2020: Will the industry ever be the same again?

Wow, what an incredible tilt-a-whirl six months. It felt like a roller coaster that we didn’t remember getting in line for but we are just going with the flow (and low key waiting for it to finish). Life took a sudden turn and we were introduced to a new normal. The advent of a global pandemic, which we all know as COVID-19 really put a lot of things in perspective. While we saw the economy faltering and industries really doing the most to keep things afloat, we also saw a newly strengthened sense of community. And not just amongst people, but among organisations. 

The novel coronavirus put the fashion industry on an unpaid sabbatical. There wasn’t any celeb-spotting, new collections were put on hold and MAJOR fashion events were cancelled. Sustainability became a point of discussion, a serious global discussion. For all intents and purposes, the fashion industry and fraternity were going to be taking a deep look into everything they have done through this time, and really evaluate what is important for them in terms of creativity, and also their carbon footprint. 

It wasn’t all bad. Every human became a content creator, beautician, stylist and chef through this period at home. The capacity of a creative mind to express itself when the pressures of the “outside world” was taken away, was astounding! Anyway as we set foot into the NEW half year of 2020 or season 2 as most are calling it, here’s a look back (and a click back) at some big moments that really re-arranged the face of the industry and even the content matrix.

Black Lives Matter

The unjust death of George Floyd by a couple of American police officers brought forth a giant uproar in the nation and even globally. We saw that despite the world being progressive, there was a lot happening under the hood. Big brands got called in question and surprisingly (not) they did not really have an answer. 

A major beauty conglomerate got called out for their hypocrisy when they shared posts supporting the BLM movement. This resulted in them making a major change to their best-selling product. But was that a “fair” change and will it be enough? We will let you decide that. Our jaws dropped as we realised a LOT of our favourite brands and companies had a history of racism. A model called out a brand for their hypocrisy as they had condoned/covered up racist behaviour in the past. Boho clothing brand also got called out for anti-Black discriminations when some interns came forward and exposed the truth. Many BIG luxury stores got looted amid the protests, but designer Marc Jacobs was not outranged, he just said that the lives lost could never be replaced. 

A lot of beauty brands like Rihanna’s Fenty, Clinique and Urban Decay came forward to support the movement. British fashion designer, Victoria Beckham believes that the fashion industry has a big role to play in the Black Lives Matter movement. Globally consumers started getting more aware and decided to promote and support black-owned businesses even more.

The attack on unrealistic beauty standards

The aftermath of the BLM movement brought on a blatant attack on the unrealistic beauty standards and exposed a lot of publications for their confused messaging. A leading publication was called out for using actors of Asian descent as props on the cover. This uncovered a lot of anti-race behaviour through the decades as various employees of colour came forward, for which the editor issued an apology. A major beauty and lifestyle product company decided to stop selling fairness creams in Asia and the Middle East. The power of the people and true voices is just unfathomable!

Cancelled events

The MET Gala 2020 and Cannes Film Festival, which are fashion’s biggest events and spectacles in the summer stood cancelled and postponed respectively. But that didn’t stop our favourite Bollywood and Hollywood superstars from dressing up for the event at home. 

The Men’s Fashion Week in London and Paris was also cancelled. Milan and Paris Fashion weeks had a brand new calendar in 2020 and Gucci decided to go seasonless and promote sustainability. A couple of other big brands followed suit as well.

Other Highlights

Like we mentioned earlier, the pandemic brought about a strong sense of community with major brands globally supporting the frontline workers and the economy by manufacturing masks and other necessities. Face time photoshoots and digital self-shot covers became a newfound trend in the new normal. We looked into how fashion labels were handling the pandemic and also heard about big brands shutting down stores among other things. Finally, we saw your favourite Bollywood, Hollywood and British Royalty turning into hairdressers through the pandemic. 

To keep the spirits up at home and keep the love for fashion and style alive, we saw the advent of many challenges like the #quarantinepillowchallenge, the #passthebrush challenge and the #paperbag challenge.

All in all, there were major changes and it doesn’t look like the industry will go back to the way it was. Is sustainability finally here to stay? Will fast fashion cease to exist for good? Will everything go digital? Only time will tell.

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