In the fashion industry, we always work months in advance.
Whether it’s planning collections, working on designs, or deciding which products to stock. If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that sometimes we don’t work far enough in advance. If you’re a buyer looking to stock your boutique or department store, you might be caught up thinking about holiday collections.
With the distribution and connectivity issues that we saw during the pandemic, it’s already time to start looking at your summer 2022 collections. We’re looking at some of the disruptions caused by the pandemic and how you can navigate your way through them as a fashion buyer.
Disruption of supply chains
Throughout the pandemic, every brand – whether in the fashion industry or manufacturing – has lost out due to supply chain issues. While countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are no longer in lockdown, countries in East Asia are in a different situation. Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam remain in some form of lockdown, negatively impacting their supply chains and manufacturing process.
These countries are the ones that produce everything from fashion garments to faux leather bags and jewelry. They usually sit at the start of the production line, meaning that their absence has a knock-on effect across your supply chain.
After almost 18 months of the pandemic, some brands have had to take drastic action to offset the delays in supply chains and distribution. A growing number of brands have chosen to return their production to China in the hopes of lowering costs and speeding up their supply chain.
China experienced a few months of relative normality before a return to supply chain issues. Chinese factories across the board are reporting a growing shortage of factory workers. The effects of globalization across China means that less developed areas – where you would typically find factories – have experienced rapid growth. Other factory workers have chosen not to return to cities after the pandemic, leading to a further shortage.
The ongoing shipping crisis
Have you ordered anything from an international brand and spent weeks waiting for it to arrive? Disruption to shipping and distribution chains has been ongoing throughout the pandemic. While the shipping industry is slowly returning to normal, it is still operating at a limited capacity. If you’re lucky enough to get your products produced without any issues, they may not make it onto your shelves in time.
The capacity shortage on containerships means that there is a knock-on effect across distribution channels. Everything from materials to packaging and assembled products are sitting waiting in factories to board containerships.
Time is usually not on your side in the fashion industry. Everything moves quickly, and most brands work on a ‘just in time’ supply chain. Until the world returns to normal post-pandemic, we need to change this mentality. Buyers should be accounting for transit time being double its previous pre-pandemic time. The last thing you want is to have empty shelves or a limited stock of products.
You can get ahead of the game and secure your summer 2022 collections by ordering today.