Analysis of US consumers by Quantum Metrics till late March reveals, online revenues of apparel retailers declined 11 per cent year-on-year, their overall online revenue increased 50 per cent. This indicates the rising importance of platforms that let people engage with clothes digitally.

Users of fashion try-on apps are doubling each week. Users are spending 50 per cent more time on these apps and trying almost double as many outfits per user, says Ben Chiang, co-founder and CEO of the six-month old fashion gaming app Drest. Similarly, data from App Annie reveals, overall time spent on apps has increased by 20 per cent globally with an increase in apps that allow consumers to maintain normality while staying at home.

Opportunity to increase customer engagement

Digital platforms offer brands an opportunity to increase engagement, attract new customers and harness the power of fashion as a respite from real life. For digital players, this could serve as an unexpected catalyst that helps transition digitized clothes from fun experiment to must-have tool. The Forma app, launched in 2019, lets users try on fashion virtually by uploading a front-facing image of themselves or selecting a model. Thousands of outfits on the app, from brands such as Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Farfetch, are sourced directly. Brands can also add a Forma try-on option to their e-commerce pages. The company has seen a “huge jump” in inbound requests from brands and retailers, with pilots in the works.

Using virtual games to boost sales

Drest, a fashion styling game created by former magazine editor Lucy Yeomans lets players dress model avatars in digital versions of real designer clothes. Users can compete in style challenges, pay for in-game extras and click to buy the products from brands like Gucci, Burberry and Farfetch. In addition to the dramatic increases in app installs, sharing and connectivity have moved to the next level.

Roblox, which has offered virtual Nikes, added a user-generated content store to provide players with a catalogue to buy digital hats, hair, wings and glasses — all designed by other users — to dress their in-game avatars. The monthly average revenue for full-time creators selling items on the Roblox UGC store is about $26,000, with the most successful making an annual income that’s in the high six figures The top-selling item, a pair of “Deal With It” shades, sold 500,000 times.

Creators and designers understand their audience because they are in the same age category as buyers, believes chief business officer of Roblox, Craig Donato. While the platform originally was popular with children and Gen Z, now more than 40 per cent of users are older than 13.

A fertile environment for innovations

This unprecedented time is providing a fertile environment for digital designers to test concepts beyond games and apps. Last week, digital fashion house The Fabricant began testing Leela, a platform that creates 3D avatars from users’ submitted selfies. They can then see themselves in the same types of digital designs that last year sold for $9,500 at a blockchain conference.

Jonas Niedermüller and Grigorij Aronov have introduced digital fashion brand Rohbau with a collection of hoodies designed by Central Saint Martins alum Assaf Reeb. For €40, customers can submit an image that is then dressed in one of four hoodies that are chrome or transparent.

Online store visits to the brand, launched on 21 February, have doubled with sales increasing by 500 per cent, and influencer posts about the brand received approximately 49,000 likes.

Once the lockdown ends, many of these new trends will continue. As Niedermüller says, inertia is strong and everybody keeps doing more of the same when things are fine, so sometimes it takes something bigger to break the inertia.

CMAI has urged both central government as well as the states, to come up with innovative ways of protecting the interests of the workers without causing irreparable losses to the industry and possibly leading to massive financial bankruptcies in the MSME Sector.

In a recent survey conductead by CMAI, it was revealed that at least 20 per cent of its members believe they may consider closing down their business, unless some Government assistance is provided.

The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), represents the domestic garment manufacturing industry, which is one of the highest employers after agriculture, directly employing close to 12 million employees, with close to 40 per cent being women.

More than 90 per cent of garment manufacturers in the country are in the MSME Sector, with more than half of these being in the Micro segment.

COVID-19 has plunged the industry into a crisis of unprecedented proportions, threatening the very survival of many of our smaller manufacturers.

The revenues of its members have come to a total halt for the last 30 days and are likely to remain so in the coming 60 to 90 days. On the other hand, the Government has issued advisories that enterprises must pay full salaries and wages to all workers, and that no employee should be out of employment.

Hence, in a situation where there is no income for such an extended period, it will be impossible for many of our smaller members to continue paying full salaries and wages, unless we receive some Government support.

As COVID-19 forces fashion calendars around the world to shift, trade show organizer Informa Markets announced new dates for several of its New York City-based events.

The July men’s show Project New York, scheduled for July 19-21, will move to September 22-24 alongside Coterie, Moda, Fame and Children’s Club, which are also shifting dates from August 2-4.

This allows attendees to visit one place for Spring/Summer 2021 men’s, women’s, children’s and accessories. NY Women, scheduled for Aug. 2-4, is cancelled to accommodate this new all-in-one concept. The September shows will take place at the Jacob Javits Center, which is currently serving as a temporary field hospital for coronavirus patients.

Liberty Fairs and Man NYC are also joining Informa in this endeavor by postponing their July events to September however, they have not named exact dates or locations at this time.

This decision is especially significant for the men’s market, said Nan Walsh, president, fashion at Informa Markets, as the sector has made the united decision to move all shows to September in New York, thus allowing the industry to come together in a unified way.

Uzbekistan has asked the coalition of human rights groups, the Cotton Campaign, to end boycott of Uzbek cotton and textiles so that the Central Asian nation could boost export revenue and create jobs at a time of a global recession. The government estimates ending the boycott, which is supported by more than 300 apparel manufacturers and retailers, could allow the country to earn an extra $1 billion by selling cotton and textiles on Western markets.

In an open letter to the Cotton Campaign leadership, Uzbek labor minister Nozim Khusanov urged it to consider both the progress made by Uzbekistan in eradicating forced labor and the country’s economic circumstances. Rights activists launched the boycott campaign in 2006 in an attempt to force Uzbekistan to abandon a long-running custom of sending students and public sector employees such as teachers and doctors to pick cotton for meager pay.

Today, because of the boycott, supported by the likes of Amazon, Calvin Klein, Adidas and Inditex, the nation of 34 million mostly sells cotton and textiles on Asian markets, which it says means lower prices and limited growth opportunities. The Uzbek government expected to boost textile exports to $3 billion this year from last year’s $2 billion, but if the boycott was lifted, export volumes could double year-on-year.

The value of textile and garment shares in Vietnam has declined due to the investors’ pessimism about the epidemic in the country and the world. Textile and garment companies in the country have suffered from the interruption of input material supply from China, and most recently, they have been informed that partners from the EU and US have stopped importing products.

Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises need input materials from China to maintain production. Vietnam imported $11.5 billion worth of textile and garment materials from China in 2019, according to the general Department of Customs (GDC).

A lot of textile and garment companies in the country have shifted to make face masks, which has allowed them to survive the current difficulties. Vinatex’s face mask output is 28-30 million a month and will be 50 million face masks a month, if necessary.

TNG Investment and Trade also reported revenue of VND288.6 billion in February, an increase of 65 percent over the same period last year. The sharp increase is attributed to the big orders for face masks.

About hundred knitwear garment making units in Tirupur have shifted to making of personal protection equipments (PPEs) such as gowns, masks, gloves and goggles to meet the rising demand. Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association, says PPEs could be manufactured in hubs like Tirupur more swiftly than the import time asserting the 100-odd units in the knitwear export cluster had started making PPEs based on order, he said the units are geared up with support from the district administration.

A number of these units are engaged in making of surgical masks, while some are into PPEs as well. These units use SITRA (South India Textile Research Association) approved standard fabric. They are utilising less than 10 per cent capacity for making 1,000s of masks and PPEs. There should be no issue in meeting the country’s requirement of 15 million PPEs,

The TEA President requested the government to extend support by helping the manufacturers’ source approved fabric, prescribe the standard and manufacturing process to be followed and place orders.

Indian minister for road transport and highway and for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) Nitin Gadkari has said the MSME and textiles ministries are jointly devising a Solar Cluster Scheme for the handloom sector in which two solar charkhas (spinning wheels) each will be given to 10 lakh women, helping generate employment opportunities. The government is committed to supporting MSMEs facing difficulties during the lockdown and discussions are under way for financing 10 per cent of their working capital and introduction of a deferred payment plan for units in distress, he said.

The government is focused on saving the sector and helping those facing problems by increasing production, exports and enhancing job creation. It is emphasizing on job creation in rural, agricultural, tribal, with a focus on development of 115 aspirant districts across the country.

With brick-and-mortar stores closed and communities dealing with shelter-in-place guidelines, brands are opting to extend return windows. Adore Me temporarily changed its policy from 30 days to 90. Direct-to-consumer bridesmaids dress company Birdy Grey updated its two-week exchange and return policy for all orders placed after March 20; shoppers can sent items back through May 31. Cuts, a premium men’s T-shirt brand, expanded its return and exchange window from 20 days to 60.

Returns are already a big challenge for e-commerce companies, known to have higher return rates than brick-and-mortar. Statista predicted returns would cost brands $550 billion by 2020. And, 41 per cent of shoppers buy things online with the intention of returning certain items, according to Shopify.

Christi Campbell, Head of the fashion, retail and consumer branded products team at national law firm Duane Morris, says companies that will win the most respect from customers are ones that aren’t setting hard deadlines for customers to return products. While building customer loyalty is key over the next few months, there are clear challenges for companies that decide to extend their return window — mainly the financial strain that could be put on the company.

Companies that do make the choice to opt for a return window on the longer side, 90 days or more — will have to deal with unsold inventory that will likely be out of season. Fast fashion companies will likely struggle the most here, as they operate under a quick turnaround to keep up with the latest trends, week-to-wee, Campbell said.

Majority of export units can gradually re-start operations after manufacturing in special economic zones, export oriented units, units outside municipal limits/rural areas and industrial estates and townships is allowed to resume on April 20 as per the revised guidelines for Covid-19 containment issued by the Centre.

As per Federation of Indian Export Organisations this will help in opening of about 80-85 per cent of the manufacturing gradually and bring exports and manufacturing back on track. A positive signal will go out to the world that India is confident of containing Covid-19 through its well thought out and early measures.

FIEO noted that the decision would also give a psychological boost to migrant workers who were getting desperate with the extended lockdown. Exporters of apparels, one of India’s largest labor-intensive export sectors, want the government to allow all garment export units, irrespective of where they are located, to resume production.

The government’s decision to allow operations of seaports and inland container depots for cargo transport, including authorized custom clearing and forwarding agents, has also come as a shot in the arm for exporters as units were facing major hindrances in transporting goods, already manufactured before the lockdown, to the ports for shipping.

Industry bodies across the world are urging brands to honor their commitments to suppliers. Prominent among these are nine business associations in the STAR (Sustainable Textile of Asian Region) Network are calling on buyers to honor their contracts with their suppliers.

The joint statement was issued by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA), Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA), Towel Manufacturers Association of Pakistan (TMA) and Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (VITAS).

These industry bodies have called for brands and retailers to take delivery and pay under already agreed terms for goods completed or already in production. They also listed a series of requests to buyers including to honor contracts, take responsibility for orders already completed or in production, offer compensation for cancelled or delayed orders, and not to pressure suppliers into mothballing orders.

UK-based fair trade watchdog Traidcraft Exchange has also asked brands and retailers to honour their contracts with suppliers from “poorer countries” over the COVID-19 outbreak. Remake non-profit has launched a petition, entitled #Payup, urging brands and retailers to continue paying factory workers in their supply chains amid the COVID-19 crisis.