As the coronavirus rapidly developed into a worldwide crisis, every major industry has had to grapple with the far-reaching effects of the pandemic. The fashion industry is no exception. “Fashion is not just the clothes that we wear every day, but it’s also economically vital,” explained Jeff Trexler, associate director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham, in an online panel held on March 27. “By treating it as something we can shut down for a sustained period of time without consequence, we’re wreaking a lot of economic havoc throughout the world.”
The webinar, entitled “Going Viral: Fashion and the Coronavirus,” was the Institute’s first-ever virtual event. An online stand-in for the Institute’s in-person annual symposium (rescheduled for September 2020), the panel addressed the wide range of challenges the fashion industry is facing in this unprecedented “new normal.” “I believe that coming together is what we can do best,” said Professor Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Institute, who moderated the discussion.
Despite the inability to host an in-person event, the virtual discussion drew an audience of more than 700 participants worldwide. “It’s the largest audience we’ve ever had,” said Institute Assistant Director Ariele Elia. “In a typical conference room, you’re limited by the capacity, but that’s not the case with an online event.” A recording of the webinar is available to view online for CLE credit until April 30, 2020.
Tony Kim, founder and CEO of Hero Within, a brand offering clothing that marries fashion with comic book and nerd culture, explained that the virus began to affect his company as early as February. “Much of our production pipeline is in China, and after the Lunar New Year, many of the factories didn’t reopen.” As the crisis grew, many of the brand’s major shows were also canceled. As China has begun to lift lockdowns, some of Hero Within’s factories started to reopen in March—not to continue business as usual, but to meet brand new demands borne out of the pandemic. “We asked our factories to shift gears and focus on the production of face masks,” Kim said.
The virus drives home “just how dependent the sourcing supply chain is on each link in it,” said Gary Wassner, CEO of Hilldun, a premier provider of factoring and financial business in the fashion industry. Trexler, who is also the co-founder of Moda Legal, illustrated this further, explaining that contracts between parties in the supply chain may or may not include force majeure clauses that cover issues of pandemics and illness. “You may find yourself in a position as a designer where, legally, the retailer may cancel the order of your goods, but you can’t cancel anything that you ordered to prepare those goods,” he explained. He suggested reviewing all contracts and working to cooperate with all areas of the supply chain.
More at : https://news.law.fordham.edu/blog/2020/04/29/going-viral-fashion-law-and-the-coronavirus/
