Editorial - Pandemic, fashion and footwear

An unprecedented stage in the fashion industry has opened with the advent of the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

Living conditions were suddenly altered to preserve health and all activities had to adapt to this new social, political and economic order, leaving hope alive for the definitive antidote: the vaccine for Covid-19.

The new reality hit the footwear and manufactures industries strongly, because in a context of priorities and urgencies, these products were relegated by those with the most immediate needs.

Thus, the developments in fashion content decreased significantly and we went through a period of revision and transformations towards a new fashion concept, which must attend to the current characteristics of the markets.

Beyond the seasons and the launching of collections, an abrupt drop has been observed in the number of proposals and novelties as a consequence of the labor parenthesis and the noticeable drop in consumption. However, the major international fashion brands make efforts to maintain their business and their positioning through marketing and creativity, in a context with clearly depressed demand.

Given the slow weakening of the pandemic and the regulated restart of activities, the entire footwear-manufactures chain must rethink its production and commercialization according to this new reality. An in-depth analysis of how the consumer market has changed, in terms of possibilities and changes in habits, will be the key to the recovery of the sector.

The Editor