Syahirah Mokhtazar
Since the Covid-19 pandemic started early this year, the world has operated differently and we are now faced with an uncertain future. Many industries physically came to a halt in the face of this global health crisis.
In fashion, retailers have shut their doors, moving to digital means. Fashion show events were cancelled as mass gatherings were prohibited to prevent the spread of the virus.
Consumer habits have changed too. As we brave through this crisis, priorities have shifted and people only focus on essentials, so the thought of buying new clothes feels frivolous.
How are local fashion designers and brands coping with such a change when fashion is not a priority? Even more so when Hari Raya season is here, a period that's usually busy and exciting for fashion designers, labels and consumers.
Needless to say, the pandemic has changed the fashion landscape and issues faced by the people in the industry will likely prolong beyond the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the festive period. A few names in the local fashion share their opinions on what they think the future holds.
ADAPTING TO THE NEW NORMAL
Ung Yiu Lin is a name familiar in the local fashion industry. She has taken fashion designer Afiq M under her direction for four years now and owns the multi-label store ShoesShoesShoes.
"The game has changed and everyone has to adapt. The important thing now is to figure out how to stay relevant when there's been such a fundamental change in the whole world.
"It's going to take many months for everyone to adjust to the new normal and adjust to a new balance in terms of spending," she said.
When things get better in the future, Ung hopes people will support local businesses be it fashion, food or other industries.
"One purchase from a consumer will make a difference, even if it's a small one. If everyone has that mindset, the industry will be kept afloat.
"Channel your purchase to something local, as that is what will drive our survival. There is only so much we can do like coming out with the best designs but if people don't buy them then we'll still fall flat," she said.
Fashion designer Alia Bastamam says the fashion industry will have to adapt to the situation. "Brands will be more online centric and create virtual settings for their customers. It's the only way to go right now."
She believes that now is a good time for companies to review and improve strategies. "We can see brands coming out with products, promotions and pushing for a stronger presence online. Despite the situation we must always maintain the relationship with our customers and keep the creativity flowing."
Meanwhile, Fazrena Aziz, the founder of TudungPeople describes that the pandemic is already changing the shopping experience of many users. E-commerce is proven to be more useful than ever, forcing many brick and mortar focused companies to shift their focus to online shopping.
"There has not been a better campaign than Covid-19 to force customers to buy online."
"Perhaps what we will see is also changes in shopping patterns. As we are anticipating a much slower market post Covid-19, customers might opt for slow fashion rather than fast fashion. The next challenge would be how to keep our prices low when there's higher cost of production?"
STRUGGLES FACED
The struggles felt by designers and brands started even before the Movement Control Order (MCO) came into effect.
"As you can imagine, it's just horrific – I'm not speaking for myself, I'm speaking for all the designers and fashion brands who are suffering right now", Ung says.
She says the struggles for local fashion retailers began in January. As most have their products manufactured in China, the problem began to arise when factories had to be closed, so that made it impossible to commence the production for orders that was already placed.
Despite having high hopes that business will resume back to normal, cases of infection increased in many countries including Malaysia and this was when travels were affected too, leading to more problems in production.
Fazrena also talked about the closure of production factories in Malaysia and overseas. "China factories have stopped operations since early January, while Korea has slowed down in February, and both have affected our production time."
"International shipping is also a big headache at this time as cargo loading time takes much longer due to sanitisation and more thorough checking. We have opted for air freight shipping instead to save time even though it increases the cost. At this time, any sale is better than no sale," she said.
"We have no income in sales, but at the same time we have a lot of outgoings," she said. As an employer, Ung needs to ensure that her staff, who is like family to her, receive their salaries. Another issue she addressed was rental payments for retail stores.
Fazrena described that the closure of all Tudung People's physical stores was a major challenge as it contributed 30-40 per cent of the company's revenue. But she says shopping malls have been helpful in waiving rentals – something she values as she noted that some of her peers in the industry still have to pay full rentals.
"We try not to reduce salary or give unpaid leave to our staff, so the government's wage subsidy really came in at the right time. There isn't much we can do about our physical stores, really. We are shifting our focus 100 per cent online right now."