Deep dive: Store closures, DTC and the death of the suit – what next for fashion retail?

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No retail category has been hit worse by the coronavirus outbreak than fashion. The pandemic has not only upended supply chains – it has obliterated consumer demand. Retail Week looks at the future for this embattled retail sector. 

With the doors of fashion retailers forced to shut for almost three months, online has brought little respite as consumers stay home with nowhere to go, making the need for new clothing – aside from comfy loungewear – redundant.

As Next chief executive Lord Wolfson put it: “No one wants to buy clothes to sit at home in.”

In the UK, fashion sales will fall between 35% and 46% in 2020, according to McKinsey.

 

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