Digitised and circular: The future of fashion buying round-up

FashionUnited takes a look at how the role of a fashion buyer is
entering a new era, one where social distancing comes with a multitude of
challenges as well as newfound social responsibility post Covid-19.

Normally, the job of a fashion buyer requires traveling to tradeshows,
attending pre-collection showrooms and fashion weeks from London to
Shanghai. Pre-pandemic, buyers would scout new trends by visiting stores
and meeting emerging designers. Like many industries, the coronavirus has
propelled the fashion industry to adopt new norms and digitize faster than
ever before. With trade events postponed or cancelled, B2B trade has had to
face new obstacles and having the right information has never been more
crucial for fashion buyers.

Streamlined fashion calendar and quality line sheet/images

“There is something special and magic about the
amazing venues and the atmosphere of fashion shows that is hard to
reproduce through digital. However, the Covid-19 pandemic led us all to
reflect on ourselves and the way we live, and I think the digital fashion
weeks are a great proof that the fashion industry is capable of reinventing
itself and adapting digital innovation to best fit our needs today.
However, I do feel market dates can be much more streamlined in the future
to reduce the amount of back and forth traveling for buyers and sellers
alike.”

When asked about what needs to be modernized or digitalised when it
comes to buying, Hsu added that the quality of the line sheet and the
images that are available to buyers has room for improvement.

Navigating digital fashion weeks

to get a reliable
overview of what is selling online, what has been marked down and for how
long, and which product categories are performing. They will be watching
London Fashion Week unfold via online presentations, conversations, films,
live discussion, and podcasts. They will be monitoring social media
influencers and voraciously reading and researching what the industry’s
tastemakers are posting online and saying in the media.

Shared social responsibility as a buyer

As buyers all over the world had to cancel orders due to the crisis, the
most affected were those working in the supply chain. Bangladesh, which is
the world’s second-largest garment exporter behind China, employs
approximately four million workers in around 4,000 factories. “The factories may collapse. They will not
be able to pay key costs and may not be able to run again. That’s a major
problem,” Bangladesh commerce minister Tipu Munshi told ITV News.

After the
coronavirus crisis, fashion buyers, brands, manufacturers and retailers
will have little choice but to rethink their businesses from top to
bottom.

Reduce overstock and the rise of resale

It is now the era of being a conscious consumer, where more and more
people are becoming particular of the brands they are supporting. Over the
past three years, reselling and thrifting has grown 21 times faster than
the actual retail apparel market, which means that there are more
secondhand shoppers than ever before. The demographic that is leading this
change are millennials and Gen Z, with a 45 percent growth in buying
second-hand in the past two years. may be a feasible solution to putting a cap on fast
fashion’s devastating carbon footprint.

Post-pandemic, the traditional values of the fashion industry may become
obsolete giving way to consumers placing a newfound value on sustainable
fashion and the resale industry instead. Fashion buyers may find themselves
sourcing vintage or unsold clothing to be reworked by designers to reduce
overstock. -Dutch designer duo Van Slobbe and Van Benthum reworked
leftover batches from fashion production and through collage techniques,
embroidery-the pieces were granted a second life.

Global B2B Marketplace for fashion

In an ultimate attempt to unite the fashion industry and connect even
more professionals, FashionUnited launched a B2B Marketplace providing
apparel buyers with unique trend insights and brand collection overviews.
The Marketplace offers an efficient and transparent online overview of what
fashion brands have available in current and future collections. Everything
focused on providing the best possible information for buyers in the
fashion industry. Fashion brands can quickly and easily connect to the
Marketplace with their existing B2B webshop from anywhere.