As the Chairman of the CFDA and as an American designer, I, like many of you, am constantly challenged with trying to manage the impact COVID-19 is having on our companies, our personal lives, and those of our loved ones. The challenges we are experiencing truly are unprecedented.

The fashion business has been hit very hard and from every angle. Our suppliers are suffering, and our supply chain was interrupted as the entire world has literally been all but shut down. And, of course, retail in most regions and certainly in the US has ground to a halt. The landscape changes every day, and so it is almost impossible to predict with any certainty the ultimate damage that this will have on the economy and, specifically, on our businesses. Part of the CFDA’s mission is to provide you with information and support to ensure that as many businesses survive this pandemic as possible.

This has been an extremely difficult moment; yet, it has also made me feel incredibly proud to be a member of the American fashion industry, which has led the way in raising awareness and funds for the fashion community and helping those working on the frontlines of the pandemic. The CFDA has diligently been working to ensure that designers ​have the information and resources to source, donate, and provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and many of our members focused on making masks as well as isolation gowns.

In collaboration with Vogue, we raised $4.2 million for fashion businesses impacted by the global lockdown. To date, we have received over 1,000 applications for A Common Thread support. The funds will be distributed beginning later this month.  We know we can not save everyone, but our hope is to help businesses survive the immediate and in turn be positioned for future survival.

There is still uncertainty on how we will emerge from the pandemic, but we are constantly looking towards the future and figuring out how we can get through this, and how fashion and retail will evolve as restrictions are gradually lifted.  Brands need to make adjustments to their retail stores to create safe environments for employees and customers. As supply chains open up and our stores open up, we are all still faced with so many questions and even more unknowns. What do we do with our excess inventory? What do we do about markdowns? Will there be reasonable open-to-buys given the significant carry-over merchandise from the previous season? And then of course, will people even be running out to stores and spending money? What kind of products are they going to want when this is all over? These are all questions we continue to ask ourselves on a daily basis.

Although no one has answers right now and there are no quick fixes, the CFDA is here to help support and guide the American fashion community.  The CFDA is actively exploring opportunities with digital retail destinations to help us sell these existing collections.  We are also in regular communication with our counterparts in Paris, Milan, and London to share updates as we collectively determine how fashion weeks will look this fall.

The industry will change; but change also presents an opportunity to reset, restart, and create a strong foundation for the future of American fashion.  The one thing I can promise, is that there will be a future for us all.

All Best,

Tom