"We know that we cannot go back": A Roundup of the Fashion Roundtable X COVID-19 Weekly Webinar
By Suzi Delaney— Founder of RPlanet
There was a terrific response to Fashion Roundtable’s webinar exploring “The New Normal” and what the future holds for the fashion industry post pandemic. Joining Fashion Roundtable’s CEO and Founder Tamara Cincick was Professor Dylis Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, Fashion Roundtable’s Communications Director and Founder of Black Neon Digital Jodi Muter Hamilton, and Karen Binns, Fashion Roundtable’s Fashion Director. A rich, diverse and deeply thought-provoking discussion ensued between this incredible group of women.
What does The New Normal look like? We know that we cannot go back. Firstly, Jodi believes we should use this period to reassess our core values, move forward with a trusted tribe and away from brands that no longer align with these values. Our inbox is full of emails trying to sell us more fashion, yet it doesn’t feel quite right at a time when we have other priorities and concerns. How do we navigate our emotions around the urge to spend? Dylis referred to brands ‘clinging-on’ to a broken business model of economic growth and prosperity, based entirely on our apparent need to keep buying lots of stuff. This has proven a fragile concept during the pandemic, and one that will not buy our way out of it. Karen is convinced that ‘frivolous is no longer an option,’ and wants to ‘lift the current stereotypical fashion statement from just sportswear and ratchet sex to a depth of culture and workmanship in a contemporary landscape’. A powerful vision, and crystal clear that fashion needs a wider remit that goes beyond egotistical design, focused solely on beauty and aesthetics.
Everyone was unanimous that support for our creatives was crucial in redefining the industry. Smaller, conscious brands such as Reaburn Design, Bethany Williams and Phoebe English to name a few, are already going way beyond making products, harnessing innovation and sustainable practise. What could larger brands learn from them? But creativity needs support, and it’s difficult to be creative when you’re preoccupied with bills; after all this community has been hardest hit with considerable disparity in financial assistance when compared with other sectors, an issue that Tamara has brought to government in order to seek alignment.
The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the fragility of our supply chains, and fashion’s most vulnerable workers who are struggling to retain any human dignity. This global system is still based on modern day slavery. Safeguards for workers in the form of unions and better welfare, smaller supply chains that are closer to market, and bringing production back to the UK were all discussed as pathways to a better future. Kate Hills of Make It British joined the call, she is on a mission to save British manufacturing. She is also leading the British Textile Consortium to generate more PPE for the NHS, and is working closely with Fashion Roundtable to this end. Our manufacturing sector has shown flexibility during the pandemic, and is ready for opportunity. But whilst we dare to dream of a fashion industry that brings benefit and prosperity to the whole value chain, we must recognise that our natural environment is part if this system too, that we are part of nature, not separate to it. The need to safeguard our planet is urgent.
We can already see that ‘resell’ is going to be huge with Gen Z vested in Depop and thrift. Rental and clothes-swap is also on the rise, and support for these circular fashion models will help in tackling the issues of consumption and waste. As curiosity grows around the farming, the fibre and the people behind our clothes, we will connect with our purchases and naturally support sustainable production. With such a rise in demand for transparency, it is hard to see how brands lacking authenticity, will survive.
Due to the super positive response to this webinar, and with so much more to say, Fashion Roundtable will continue the discussion this Thursday 7 May at 2pm.