Behind the Scenes · Reading time: 3 minutes
Future Fashion Cycles – The Fashion Cycles of the Future
Even though the years of the pandemic were difficult and economic crises are spreading, we can learn from them and emerge stronger in our most important concern. The fashion of the future must be sustainable and, above all, "slow"
The Corona crisis hit the fashion industry unexpectedly hard in March 2020. Closed stores and declining consumer sentiment - including in online retail - led to a sharp drop in sales and goods being left lying around. The large textile discounters in particular canceled orders from their production partners on a large scale and risked factory closures and mass unemployment among seamstresses due to the lack of labor protection laws in many production countries. At the same time, many of the discounters went on sale too quickly, or presumably even sold off the goods that were left lying around. (Source: Global Citizen )
Unthinkable for a fashion company that produces fairly, unthinkable given our high quality and relatively low profit shares.
With the #FairFashionSolidarity alliance, we therefore made a spontaneous call in March to act together within the slow fashion industry and to show solidarity with our competitors and partners across the entire supply chain.
Risks and Side Effects of Fast Fashion
"Back to normal" as quickly as possible? We hope not, because "normal" currently stands for fast and very unfair fashion. In times of fast fashion, trends are moving ever faster directly from the catwalk to the textile discounters. Designs with a short lifespan are taking over, while planning cycles have shortened from the traditional duration of 12 months to three months. The effect: high procurement risks for the brands and considerable pressure on suppliers and producers. (Source: Christliche Initiative Romero eV )
The process from idea to sale takes 12 months in "slow fashion" - in "fast fashion" only three months.
The coronavirus has thrown a wrench into these fast fashion rhythms - and shown how fragile and unsustainable this system is. The industry seems to be slowly realizing that not only our conscience, but also the economic figures in such unusual times, are calling for a rethink.
The Future of Fashion is slow
We can gratefully say, with a first cautious conclusion about LANIUS, that not only did sales of the spring and fall collections go unexpectedly well during the crisis - a really big thank you to you for that! - but we are also happy to have loyal customers in the current spring ordering season who believe in our slow fashion philosophy. This encourages us to stick to our premises for collection design.
Making only two collections a year has certainly proven to be a good idea during this time, because the supply chains are much less fragile due to a slower pace.
We also advocate for planning rhythms in the future that guarantee production under the highest possible ethical premises.
Avoiding fast trends in the collection framework plan and instead focusing on seasonal designs and as many classics as possible has led to little drop in sales and has also enabled us to integrate part of the spring/summer collection as a carry-over into the coming spring/summer season.
We also advocate for future collection framework plans that are adapted to the actual demand for clothing and rethink the concept of 'fashion'. The value of this should lie in its wearability, durability and well-thought-out, qualitative design.
"My wish is for a textile industry that is tailored to demand, with reasonable collection rhythms and delivery dates. With LANIUS, we are on the right track with this slow fashion philosophy."
– Claudia Lanius
What can you personally do?
Reduce consumption: Get to know your style better, buy new things less often and wear what you already own. The capsule wardrobe principle can help here.
Invest in classics: Invest in high quality and classic designs when it comes to clothing. This encourages companies to tailor their collection composition to your needs for timeless, long-lasting fashion.
Strengthen the fair fashion industry: Support sustainable and fair labels and shops so that they can show in international competition that a different textile industry is possible.
