Italian Fashion Trembles Looking at the Future
This past May, as the pandemic was peaking in multiple places in both Europe and the United States, I read an article in the New York Times that discussed the vulnerability of artisans and designer Italian fashion when it came to looking at the future. Of course, I was already aware that companies of all varieties were struggling across the globe, but I was not sure what was going to come of industries such as the fashion industry over the coming months. Fashion is such a large and significant part of not only Italy’s, especially Milan, culture, but a driving factor in its economy. The burning question is, can we get fashion back on track in the midst of the Coronavirus, and if so, how?
Before our own lockdown in the United States, Italy was beginning to recover from its own closures. The lockdown began to ease and multiple shops began opening up. With canceled Couture weeks during July in Paris and the uncertainty of what would come of Milan fashion week in September, the Italian fashion industry was struggling to answer whether they would survive. The Times’ article I read included a perfect description of the grandness of the fashion industry in Italy, and the major problems the pandemic could have on its future, “Italy’s 165 billion euro ($180 billion) fashion industry is known to the world for its glamorous brands, but it is built on a vast and tightly woven network of designers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers, large and small, that help make up the backbone of Europe’s fourth-largest economy. For these companies, for this style of doing business, the future has never looked more uncertain” (Paton). Milan, a city known for being the fashion capital of the world, as well as probably the most financial oriented city in Italy, was hit the hardest. Rebuilding Italy’s economy starts with finding a place for the fashion industry in this pandemic. How will designers approach these coming months? Will they push through what is unwanted circumstances and create shows for Milan fashion week, or will they take the road of acceptance and drive the Italian fashion industry further into despair?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/business/italy-luxury-fashion-coronavirus.html
