WHAT FUTURE DO YOU WANT?

“Our behaviour during this time will be noted. How we choose to act as individuals and as companies will be judged not just by others but more importantly by ourselves. We want to look back on this time of desperation and know that we did what was right.”

Today we find ourselves in a horrid realisation that our world is on lock down. A worldwide tragedy completely unimaginable has taken hold of our planet.

I am praying that we come out of this soon and when this time comes, I do wonder how business will survive these months of hibernation? I know talking about business seems so unimportant compared to lives lost to this disease. Nevertheless, the end of a person’s livelihood is a scary and very real problem we are now facing.

Even the strongest and the biggest companies may fall. I have seen on social media certain people posting with happiness that the fast fashion retailer Primark has closed its doors and due to not being online will struggle to open again in the coming months. I beg of you to think about that retailers supply chain if not the retailer itself. The hundreds and thousands of people working there, the factories and mills around the world who overnight have now lost their income and not to mention the impact had on the cotton farms where it all starts. These changes are impacting retail in a bigger way than what we can see from our phones. I am not a fan of unsustainable practises however; I am less of a fan of thousands of people losing their livelihoods.  

It is important to find hope in these times. I am trying to look forward, trying to focus on how we will get through this as unscarred as possible. My heart fills with warmth when I read about how the environment has blossomed while we have all been hibernating around the world. Waters are running clear and blue skies are replacing the grey polluted clouds. Mother nature is more powerful than us and kinder than we are to each other. This gives me the hope that maybe Mother nature will give us all a second chance and forgive us for the damage that we have done.

Caring for our environment and each other within fashion has been seen as a “trend”. It was seen as something that brands and retailers could work towards for the next season or even the season after. With a small amount of encouragement from governing parties for companies to make the change towards a greener future. However, now we will see ourselves in a situation where the fashion industry has no other option but to go green. I don’t necessarily mean with pressure from the powers at be, I think that it will be you, the shopper that weens out the honest from the dishonest. 

I have seen cheap online clothing retailers offering discounts for NHS staff, why oh why would a nurse working 18 hours a day on our front lines want to buy a cheap polyester dress? However, it does fill me with confidence that this poor marketing strategy isn’t going down well and is being seen for what it is. Greenwashing. 

Our behaviour during this time will be noted. How we choose to act as individuals and as companies will be judged not just by others but more importantly by ourselves. We want to look back on this time of desperation and know that we did what was right. 

This gives my decision to temporarily close our online store even more reason. Keeping our warehouse open has not been sitting well with me, and after speaking to our logistics partner the decision has been made to go into temporary hibernation. 

All our orders remain with our factories as we are keeping to our promises to our suppliers that we will do whatever we can to continue. Once they are completed, we will take delivery (if allowed) and hold these in our warehouse ready to sell when the time is right.

This terrible situation has shown us that the world can live better without us. When the world settles down and attempts to continue, I believe that life as we know it will be very different. My only hope is for the sake of our people and our planet, we choose a greener future.