In mid March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic caused a “New York on Pause” Shelter in Place, Social distancing between 1 and a half to 2-meters and everyone must wear a mask unfamiliar world. Businesses had to close (except essential ones, like food and medicine) over 3 million New Yorkers became unemployed, and major fashion retail chains either filed for bankruptcy or closed for good completely.

The Corona pandemic has plunged the global economy into a recessive contraction not seen since World War II. Every sector of industry have suffered, especially fashion. Between January and March 2020 fashion, luxury items and apparel have fell roughly 40% and is predicted to shrink further due to millions of job losses and economic hardship for consumers. Domestic and global fashion companies have begun to go bankrupt, with more expected in the coming months.

With little or no disposable cash, consumers concentrate spending on the “essentials” furthers the fashion industries woes. According to a Mckinsey & Company report: “Even online sales have declined 15 to 25 percent in China, 5 to 20 percent across Europe, and 30 to 40 percent in the United States.”

Consumers are rapidly shifting from “fast fashion” to a more “purpose driven, sustainable action” and transparency in their “quarantine of consumption”. Some of these shifts could include a more digital presence (which is already happening), the decline of wholesale and a switch to “seasonless design” releases.

Established fashion brands as well as emerging designers has dived deeply into mask making to donate to front-line workers (to stay relevant) or to sell online to raise much needed revenue to stay afloat (as well as plugging their brands), as they wait for the dust to settle from the Covid-19 crisis. Influencers are left with no direction and sensing their decline (or even their extinction) in a post Covid-19 world.

What will be the state of the fashion landscape look like after Covid-19 times?

Your guess is as good as mine. For now we have no choice but to wait, watch and see.

What is Fast Fashion? Well according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: fast fashion “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers”. And according to Wikipedia: says “Fast fashion is a contemporary term used by fashion retailers to express that designs move from catwalk quickly to capture current fashion trends. Fast fashion clothing collections are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and the autumn of every year.”

While Slow Fashion is described as (according to Wikipedia): “the alternative to fast fashion and part of what has been called the “slow movement”, advocates for principles similar to the principles of slow food, such as good quality, clean environment, and fairness for both consumers and producers.”

Now it’s no secret that I’m one of fashions biggest fans, however my conscience does play a major part in the big picture of it all. Most people don’t think much about their fashion choices when they see a clothing item that appeals to them, including me (guilty as charged). Now the conundrum: low-cost/low-quality (fast fashion) vs. high-cost/high-quality clothing (slow fashion).

Both have their pros and cons, both have their respective “must have” item trends. We often find ourselves purchasing fast fashion to satisfy our instant gratification needs (wants) that we’ve seen on the runway, or in a magazine that resonates with our sense of style (disposable). At other times, we find that we are saving up, and or breaking the bank to purchase a higher price point fashion item (slow-fashion) that will be a staple in our wardrobe for some time to come (investment).

Very seldom do we consider the moral implications of our choices in the fashions that we buy (for some, not at all).  Do we consider the factory workers that work long hours, for low wages, and in most cases in unsafe conditions? Do we think about how the use of synthetic materials (acrylic, polyester) impact our environment when just after a few wears our “fast fashion” items are discarded? Just in the U.S. alone 11 million tons of trashed clothing was dumped in landfills in 2010 releasing methane gas into the atmosphere and causing global warming by the decomposing synthetic fabrics. When do we think about that? Do we want to?  No not really, we just want to look good, and feel good in the latest fashion trends!

As I stated before……I Too AM Guilty of this. But I also must heed what my conscience dictates just as much as the runways at fashion week. Now fast fashion is not going anywhere, anytime soon and neither is slow fashion (and I’m not sure if I want it too). But what I Can Do is be more responsible with my fast fashion choices. Instead of throwing my disposable fast fashion items in the trash, I can donate them, drop them off or send them to a recycling facility to reduce my carbon footprint on the earth. I can shop more at vintage stores. I can spend more on slow fashion and shop less, and constantly look for ways to balance my fast fashion/slow fashion ratio.

To be honest, there is not hard and fast answer to this troubling conundrum. However if we all care just a little, maybe if we tried, we can make it just a bit better!

(Part 1: In the Beginning) 

Futurism which began in Italy around 1909, and was launched by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and his Futurist Manifesto which appeared in various Italian newspapers and early magazines. “This first and highly successful manifesto was followed by others, such as that of the Futurist Painters. In 1912 the movement’s followers were 120,000. Giacomo Balla and Fortunato Depero introduced the concept of Futurist Fashion. Futurism was poetry, painting, music, and life, so also with fashion. A fully theoretical speculation, at least at the beginning, when Balla presented his Manifesto of anti-neutral clothing in September 1914.”

( Filippo Tommaso Marinetti )

(Giacomo Balla 1930)

“What evolved into a cultural movement that swept through other art forms, including fashion design. The Futurists called for a break with the past, and a celebration of everything new, urban and industrial. For fashion, Futurism meant fabrics, designs, colors and cuts that reflected audacity, movement and speed. Futurism faded with the onset of World War II, but the movement’s emphasis on revolt, risk and modernity continues to inspire fashion today.”

(Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto.)

“Futurism redefined the purpose of fashion. The movement gloried action and aggression, and Balla called for simple and comfortable clothing designed to allow the skin to breathe, and the body to move with ease. In 1920, Futurist designer Ernesto Michahelles, known as Thayaht, introduced a roomy, utilitarian, unisex jumpsuit called the tuta, short for the Italian word tutta, which means all. The tuta caught the attention of the public, and was the one Futurist design to achieve commercial success. Still, Futurism’s new emphasis on clothing designed to accommodate an active lifestyle was a genuine innovation and the start of what would eventually become modern sportswear.”

(Photo by Ugo Mulas 1966. Dress Mila Schon
Vogue Italia, July/August 1966)

“So as the idea of the future evolved, so did Futurism’s role in fashion. In the early 1960s during a fashion era that Vogue editor Diane Vreeland defined as “Youthquake,” miniskirts, vinyl dresses and neon colors signaled the same revolt against the past advocated by the Futurists.

A youth-dominated culture generated styles that stressed originality and equality. At the same time, Pierre Cardin and Andre Courreges introduced space-age collections that reflected the era’s interest and enthusiasm for space exploration. The new look was built on sleek, minimalist clothing constructed with geometric shapes. Designers introduced synthetic fabrics, plastics and metals into clothing that relied on colors such as metallics, day-glo and white for a futurist effect.”