Italy'S Rush Week, Milan Fashion Week

The haze of the epidemic is hanging over the international fashion capital of Milan.
At noon on 25 noon local time, Borrelli, head of the Civil Defense Department of Italy, said in a regular epidemic notification that as of 12 o'clock in the day (19 hours in Beijing), the number of confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia increased to 283 cases, of which 7 were dead and 1 were cured and discharged.
Italy is the most severe case of new European crown pneumonia, with the most confirmed cases outside Asia. Since February 21st, the number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in Italy has continued to grow. The number of confirmed cases is mainly focused on 4 large areas in the north. In Milan, the capital city of Lombardia, there are 172 confirmed cases and 5 deaths.
As one of the four fashion week in the world, Milan fashion week took the baton from New York and London on the 18 day. Despite the large number of Chinese buyers and media in absences this year, the degree of popularity has dropped, but Giorgio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo and other international luxury 2020 big autumn winter women's show is still the topic of many people's expectations.
But with the outbreak of the epidemic, the situation has changed. On the evening of 22, Prime Minister Conte and his cabinet issued an administrative decree. Since 23, the epidemic situation has been blocked in 11 towns of Lombardy and Venetian, the most serious ones. The activities of schools, shops, museums and other places have been stopped.
The 10 towns in Lombardia are concentrated in about 60 km southeast of Milan. To this end, Milan fashion week had to make a series of adjustments. Analysts in Italy have predicted that the marketing loss of this fashion week in Milan will exceed millions of euros under the influence of the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
A Chinese student in Milan told Cheng Shu, "now the situation in Milan is more intense. Before this, the Serie A League was also postponed, and all schools in Milan began to suspend classes, and many companies began to shut down."
　 Hard opening
Milan is somewhat more prepared for the epidemic.
The example of London Fashion Week was held a week ago. According to the organizers, during the fashion week, the number of spectators dropped dramatically, and the absence of Chinese buyers greatly affected them. At the same time, China's garment factory delayed the resumption of work, but also affected some brands in the fashion week plan, or even directly canceled the show.
Outside the show, Italy took measures very early. On the night of January 30th, after the confirmation of two new crown virus infections, the Italy government announced that all flights to China should be suspended. Subsequently, in February 4th, Italy further strengthened Airport Quarantine and conducted temperature checks for all passengers entering Italy.
The Italy National Fashion Association has calculated that there are more than 1000 Chinese people in Milan fashion week, including designers, buyers and media reporters, but this time, 80% of them will not be able to show up.
China's importance to the global luxury industry is rising. According to Jefferies, a well-known investment bank in the US, last year, Chinese buyers accounted for about 40% of global luxury goods consumption, and China accounted for 80% of the increase in global luxury consumption.
Without Chinese audiences, fashion week is a disaster. The fashion brands that come to Milan to run shows, and the orders signed by buyers at the show ground will be related to the sale of global luxury stores in the next few months. It is also an important function of fashion week to increase their exposure and topic by means of the media coming together.
At the moment when fashion week is dying, it is imperative to save ourselves.
On the evening of February 18th, the Italy National Fashion Association launched a campaign called "China, we are with you" at the opening ceremony of the fashion week. The fashion show of Chinese designer Han Wen became the first big show of the event.
Despite the fact that 3 designers from China had to cancel the show during the fashion week, Carlo Capasa, chairman of the chamber of Commerce, told Agence France-Presse that "when people try to build walls, we hope to build a bridge."
Whether fashion week or big brands, they are trying to extend their tentacles to China. The Italy national fashion house has arranged a series of online channels, not only to provide live shows, but also to set up online exhibition hall, and the relevant designer interviews and live broadcast all onto the network.
There is also a "hidden battle" for online resources. Kai Yun group's Gucci maintained last year's model, opened up a dedicated live channel on micro-blog, and will release the backstage preparation tidbits to attract more buyers' attention. As its competitors, LVMH and Chanel have followed up, and have built exclusive live channels.
In order to make Chinese buyers more convenient to track the dynamics of the show, Prada made a temporary adjustment: changing the time of its big show from 6:30 PM 20 to 4 p.m.
　　 Another misfortune
The real test appeared in February 23rd.
On the morning of 21, a patient in Lombardi Cotto Neo was diagnosed. Previously, the number of confirmed cases in Italy has been maintained at 5, and after that, the outbreak was abrupt. According to local media reports, before the diagnosis, the patient had frequent activities, participated in marathon, running, football matches and red cross training activities. As of 23 days, all confirmed cases (110 cases) in Lombardia were related to them.
In today's Milan, the streets are empty and almost no vehicles run. On some social platforms, supermarkets are sold out everywhere. Not only was the football match and the movie forced to stop, but the local government also announced the temporary closure of universities and Church of Duomo. Before the government of Italy took any measures, Milan had taken a step forward.
The show also had to respond further.
On the evening of 22, Armani's founder and creative director, Giorgio Armani, decided to cancel the two Giorgio Armani 2020 autumn and winter fashion show, which was scheduled for 4 p.m. on 23, to transform the show into a pure online live broadcast. In the live broadcast, there is nothing left around the extension platform, and the model and the lotus pool settings reflect each other.
It is worth noting that according to Armani official information, the show's inspiration just came from China.
Many brands also "closed doors" or restricted the number of spectators. According to the "women's Wear Daily" report, Michael Kors directly cancelled the planned joint launch of "007 James Bond" which was planned to be held on 23, and its supporting parties and banquet activities were also cancelled.
Despite the official statement of the Italy National Fashion Council, "fashion show will be calmly carried out", "we hope the status quo will continue." But then it cancelled the day's closing prizes, and the second day trading day for the cutting-edge designers.
How to proceed?
On the 24 day, the end of the last day of Milan fashion week is over. But the impact of the epidemic on the entire fashion industry may have just begun.
Despite the fact that the Italy National Fashion Council believes that the impact of the new crown pneumonia on the industry is still incalculable, it is based on the forecast of SARS in 2003. The more optimistic figure is that Italy's exports in the first quarter will drop by at least 100 million euros, and if the epidemic persists, it will probably decrease by 230 million euros in the first half of the year. According to CNMI, the outbreak of the new crown virus will lead to a 1.8% drop in the sales of Italy fashion industry in the first half of 2020.
In fact, the impact has taken the lead in the price of luxury goods companies. Yesterday, LVMH group shares fell 4.72%, Kai Yun group fell 4.72%, Burberry fell 4.04%.
The downward trend is expected to emerge in the apparel industry. The parent company Capri of Michael Kors, Versace and Jimmy Choo lowered the sales forecast for the first quarter by US $100 million, while the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman said its sales would drop by US $250 million.
One reason is that big stores in China are slow to open. For example, only one Capri company closed its 150 stores in the mainland.
And the end of the epidemic is not necessarily the end of the challenge, or it will be another beginning. As Armani said, practitioners need to use their brains to remodel or try similar businesses to stimulate people's enthusiasm for luxury goods.
Besides, as fashion week continues, Milan's troubles may also appear in other cities.
The first thing to do is to hold a fashion week in Paris yesterday. 6 Chinese brands have announced that they will withdraw from the Paris fashion week and replace it with new products online.
In order to prevent the spread of the Italy epidemic to the European continent, many countries have come up with countermeasures. Austria has stopped a train starting from Italy. Velan, the new minister of health in France, said in a public speech that he had made adequate preparations for the possible epidemic.
"The problem now lies in the gate of Europe - Italy, which we have paid close attention to." He disclosed that inter ministerial discussions and related work on the epidemic in Italy are being launched among European countries.
But the panic of practitioners can hardly be eliminated. In an interview, a Italy designer who was about to move from Milan to Paris expressed similar concerns. She was worried about staying in Milan, and was also afraid to fly to Paris.