2020 Met Gala and CFDA Fashion Awards Are Postponed
COVID-19 continues to impact all as this week announcements that both the annual Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala and the CFDA Fashion Awards would be postponed indefinitely until the viral crisis passes. In a statement delivered days after the museum shuttered, Vogue U.S. editor in chief Anna Wintour made an announcement of the gala’s postponement while being critical to President Trump’s nationwide response to the pandemic saying “his dishonesty with the American people” is putting millions in danger of catching and passing the disease. [WWD]
Retail Halts to a Close
The same shut downs are affecting the international retail community, both brick and mortar and eCommerce. Chanel has stopped production and is shutting sites in France, Italy, and Switzerland for two weeks, while Kering announced this week that it closed all of its group’s stores for the same amount of time as well. The news reads the same for brands like Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, Harrod’s and Selfridge’s with no projections of the long term effects this shut down will have on both employers and employees.
Johnny Coca is Leaving Mulberry
After five years, creative director of Mulberry Johnny Coca is leaving the brand. The Spanish designer came to the British heritage brand in 2016 after a stint as head design director for leather goods, accessories, shoes, and jewelry at Celine under Phoebe Philo. No successor has been named and Coca’s last collection will be for spring 2021 season unveiled in September. [WWD]
The British Fashion Council Calls on Designers to Help
Yesterday, through Instagram, the British Fashion Council called on designers with production capacity to help manufacture masks and other essential products in an effort to aid shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization is asking for any designers willing to support production of these items to email directly to [email protected]. In New York, designers are stepping up as well. Christian Siriano tweeted, “If @NYGovCuomo says we need masks my team will help make some. I have a full sewing team still on staff working from home that can help.” Siriano joins efforts alongside Pyer Moss founder, Kerby Jean-Raymond, who posted to Instagram he would be converting their office into a donation center for basic supplies for medical professionals and set aside $5,000 to buy supplies as well.
Playboy Cuts Print Magazine and Goes Digital First
Playboy, the iconic men’s magazine founded in 1953 by the late Hugh Hefner, announced it would be discontinuing the print edition of the magazine, reported WWD. The decision was accelerated by economic stress from the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s CEO, Ben Kohn, wrote the conversation was already happening internally before the virus outbreak. Kohn continued, “We have decided that our Spring 2020 Issue, which arrives on U.S. newsstands and as a digital download this week, will be our final printed publication for the year in the U.S.” He emphasized Playboy is more than just a magazine with growing video subscriptions and social media engagement, the acquisition of direct-to-consumer commerce, and $3 billion in global consumer spend each year. [WWD]
Textile Factories in China Begin to Resume Operations
Amidst news of retail closures, optimism comes by way of China, whose manufacturing workforce is gradually returning to factories. Stanley Chao, managing director at All In Consulting, told WWD, 80 percent of the workers are back in the Guangdong area, while workers in the Wuhan area are still in lockdown. Chao also noted that some textile factories in Shanghai are entirely up and running. Some of these factories have shifted to temporarily manufacturing medical disposables to aid in the shortage for these products. [WWD]
