Among the massive impact that coronavirus has had on the economies, fashion is one of the hardest hit industries.

The impact of the virus has hit the Indian textile industry both in exports and domestic. 

Let’s talk about Exports first. When we visited Texfusion and Premiere Vision in Paris this February, Indian manufacturers and suppliers looked hopeful to get the spill over orders that China wasn’t able to fulfil. In Fact, there was a spike in demand with China orders being routed to India, Bangladesh, etc. both in manufacturing and fabrics. However, now that Covid-19 has taken over key buying areas like Europe and USA the impact will be severe especially on the suppliers of luxury fabrics and embroidery. For suppliers to fast fashion/mass retail, there might still be hope in the aftermath but initially at least there will be smaller orders, and very tight margins. 

Coming to domestic suppliers. Depending on how the Covid-19 scenario evolves in India, we are looking at very low consumer sentiment and therefore much less consumption this year. Retailers and brands have already started halting production lines, delayed season releases and cut buying budgets to prepare for these eventualities. Of Course with few garments being made there will be less demand for fabrics so overall the situation is looking gloomy.

We hope that the Indian textile industry will take the necessary measures to deal with the aftermath of the virus. 

views by Manoshi Kamdar Kothari.
Aara inc. www.aarainc.com