Fashion during COVID-19: What impact did COVID-19 have on the Australian fashion industry? How did the industry respond and what steps should it take next to better protect itself against such crisis in the future? In this article, the authors overview the ramifications of the global pandemic in the Australian context, and offer insights from interviews with key stakeholders. Check out the abstract below, and then click through to the main article to learn more:
Changing geographies of fashion during COVID-19: The Australian case
Peer-reviewed research by: Taylor Brydges, Lisa Heinze, and Monique Retamal
COVID-19 has impacted a range of industries, of which the fashion industry is no exception. Here, we examine the effects of COVID-19 on the geographies of that industry in Australia. We use a path-dependency framework to understand the evolution of the Australian fashion industry and to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 as an external shock to this evolution. The Australian fashion industry has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Drawing upon a qualitative methodology and associated set of methods consisting of 24 semi-structured interviews with key industry actors, we explore three key themes. First, we examine the impact of COVID-19 on firm dynamics, investigating how fashion brands have navigated a period of significant uncertainty through a combination of highly nimble internal business practices and industry collaborations. Second, in light of unstable globalised supply chains, we consider the important role of local garment production in supporting industrial resilience. Third, we explore how changing consumption behaviours are altering the retail geographies of the Australian fashion industry in both physical and virtual spaces. Based on our analysis of preliminary results, we reflect on the suitability of an evolutionary approach in this context and outline a number of themes of future research.
Click here to read the full open-access article, published in 2021 in the journal Geographical Research.
Full Reference //
Brydges, T, Heinze, L, Retamal, M. (2021). Changing geographies of fashion during COVID-19: The Australian case. Geographical Research. 59: 206–216.
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