COVID-19: Fashion enthusiast decries decline in global luxury sales

Sun, Jun 28, 2020
By publisher
2 MIN READ

Coronavirus Pandemic

A fashion enthusiast, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi, on Sunday, predicted decline in global luxury sales as present and post COVID-19 situation created a huge loss in the industry.

Ademiluyi, founder, Africa Fashion Week, Nigeria/London and the Cultural Ambassador to Queen Moremi Ajasoro, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the fashion industry will never remain the same after COVID-19.

The fashion enthusiast disclosed that the biggest fear for fashion designers was the uncertainty and lack of knowledge of how long the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic would last.

“Nobody can really tell what the world will be like after `COVID-19 pandemic.

“But it’s most certainly won’t be the same; there have been predictions that global luxury sales will suffer a year-after-year decline of between 25 per cent and 30 per cent.

“The COVID-19 crisis has already ushered the global economy into a recession.

“The fashion business is one that has really been disrupted by the pandemic as it relies so much on consumer spending.

“Many designers have lost their entire livelihoods following the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic.

“Garment makers are being laid off from their full-time jobs and retail stores are cancelling millions of orders while almost everything regarding the fashion industry has come to a halt,’’ she said.

Ademiluyi decried the magnitude of losses by emerging and graduate designers.

“The galas and events celebrities with customised outfits had to be cancelled, which is a huge loss of income,’’ she said.

The fashion enthusiast said COVID-19 was a serious threat to the fashion industry as consumers had less money to spend on luxuries like clothing, noting, “luxuries is certainly not at the forefront of people’s needs’’.

She lamented how the situation would affect the economy and designers who didn’t have enough to sustain themselves through the COVID-19 lockdown.

“The Aso-Oke weavers, the Adire makers, artisan groups, local crafts-based communities and home-based workers, all face desperate financial circumstances as a result of the pandemic, which brings concerns about sustainability.

She wondered where people will wear evening dresses to at this lockdown period, lamenting that “designers are panicking due to loss of income’’.

“Imagine all the designer bridal wears and the tailors who make design outfits for ‘owambe’ parties this period,’’ she said. (NAN)

– Jun. 28, 2020 @ 16:35 GMT |

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