How a government shutdown affects fashion?
Updated: Oct 21, 2021
From the casual meetings in karaoke bars to setting up home offices, watching traffic jams “vanish” to stocking up fridges like there is no tomorrow. All the changes were being observed in many places from a distance but, are now really being acclimated. Many industries and their workers are in a tough spot as they are clueless about bringing their companies back to a steady state.
When we look at the fashion industry, many major events like the Gala fest and the Cannes festival have been postponed indefinitely. But how has the world of fashion faced the storm and are trying every possible way to bandage the damages. Here we have five Indian fashion designers well-known for their exquisite work describing how this calamity has shaken their worlds like none other and a brief about their new projects based on the quarantine trends.
1. Ritu Kumar
Ritu Kumar, a versatile designer of India for the past few decades, has never experienced dismay similar to the shutdown. She is a great supporter of clothing made by local artisans and of low-cost yet authentic fabrics has always believed that Indian fashion’s past, present, and future has been what our home-grown weavers have built for us.
Some of the unique changes that she has personally observed in the trends are that people are trying out o, we believe are coming back to the classical form of stylings like a simple Bandhani saree or dupatta are returning. But since we are used to both traditional ethnic wear and high-end western outfits which have gone a mile down in popularity, we do have some really good pieces of clothing that are suitable for all occasions.
Just at the peak of when her Spring/Summer collection was to be launched, in 2020, the nation had to go into a complete shutdown. But now, as the situation is calmly down, Ritu Kumar plans to work more on outfits for the pandemic like masks. She still wants to strive and work hard for the betterment of low wages workers and promises to come up in the future with a much stronger, clear idea of creativity.
2. Payal Singhal
Payal Singhal, a renowned clothing designer who has inspired many young people with her exquisite clothing line, has found this lockdown to be complete chaos. The majority of her clothing stores close down both nationally and, on an international level, many of her fashion collaborations have come to a sudden halt. Even with online shopping, it was impossible to have good shipping faculty, so in recent times Payal launched her new fashion collection, The New Normal, which was designed exclusively for her closest friends in the industry. This collection was designed in the first place to make everyone feel confident about themselves the next time they try to overcome all fears and step out of their homes with much determination.
Payal talked about how mental health was affecting many individuals and how she was trying her best to help out those in need. She was willing to donate half of the funds from a new collection of two people suffering and this pandemic state.
3. Levi’s
When we think about jeans, it is always the famous Levi’s company that comes into our mind. It is one of the biggest denim companies worldwide and also in India. In recent years, the brand has been known to have highly developed its retail stores by the innovative idea of introducing activewear for both men and women. With the rise in the cases of the Covid-19, the denim company had to shut down most of its physical stores across the globe, which ultimately led to huge losses.
As many people are bound to work from home and do not want to step out unnecessarily, the sales of jeans, trousers, shirts, and t-shirts have drastically gone downhill. At present, the clothing type that is ruling the charts is athleisure. It involves simple outfits that are generally worn when you want to relax on a weekend night at home or for those casual coffee runs. We do find its presence in some virtual meetings too! This is eventually helping them to come back to where they were and has also increased online sales.
