Must Read: How to Manage Layoffs, Customers Are Spending on Comfort
Plus, how designers are handling Resort 2021.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.
How to manage layoffs
Through talking with a series of lawyers, experts and executives, Business of Fashion has outlined the best way companies can manage layoffs and furloughs. Edgar Ndjatou, a lawyer and executive director at Workplace Fairness, a non-profit organization advocating for employee rights, told Business of Fashion, "It's really important employers try to make well thought out decisions...When people take time to really evaluate their options, you might find clear solutions right in front of you that will allow you to maintain some sort of workforce." {Business of Fashion}
Customers are spending on comfort
With people all over the world quarantined at home because of the Covid-19 epidemic, certain product categories are seeing sales spike. Demand for comfort items like pajamas, knitting sets and blankets have increased: We Are Knitters, a Madrid-based online seller of sustainable knitting supplies, has seen its beginner knitting kits sell in Italy, Spain, France and now the United States and the UK. {Vogue Business}
How designers are handling Resort 2021
With the New York Fashion Week: Resort 2021 schedule of presentations officially canceled, designers are getting creative and figuring out their next steps. In the process, they may be discovering a new way of doing things. Joseph Altuzarra told Vogue Runway that he was planning a remote showroom: "We've been working on it remotely and we're still planning on having a resort collection in time for market...people are going to be building wholesale websites that stores can access." {Vogue}
Sergio Rossi has passed away
Sergio Rossi, the man behind one of Italy's most respected luxury shoe brands, has passed away at 84 from coronavirus. Born in 1935 in one of Italy's main shoemaking regions, San Mauro Pascoli, he learned the craft from his father. Rossi launched his namesake label in 1968 and collaborated with fashion houses like Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Azzedine Alaïa. {WWD}
Who is still shopping?
As millions of Americans file for unemployment and struggle to make ends meet, there are still some people shopping. Customers are mainly Millenials or Gen Z-ers with job security who are working from home and spending more time online browsing social media, which influences purchasing. Natalie Kingham, fashion buying director at Matchesfashion.com, told Business of Fashion in an email, "There has been a shift in emphasis towards the home unsurprisingly...homeware accessories are also tracking positively with items such as candles doubling in sales." {Business of Fashion}
How European independent designers are navigating the crisis
In an ongoing series with independent designers, WWD speaks with creatives in Milan, Paris, London and Berlin about how they are facing the coronavirus crisis. They discuss what they think the future holds, how consumers' habits will change and how they stay positive. {WWD}
Naomi Campbell discusses her quarantine routine
Iconic supermodel Naomi Campbell talks to Nylon about what she's doing to stay sane through quarantine (She works out every day with a personal trainer on Instagram and stays busy cleaning), her brutal honesty ("That's just who I am. All that Naomi knows, that's how I'm going to speak.") and her YouTube channel. {Nylon}
