Fashion in the outbreak of COVID-19

Abstract

Fashion concepts and their approaches have significantly changed in the 21st century. The image of a consumer as well as his/her perception of current trends requires fashion to suit the consequences of rapidly changing fashion trends. The terms of the global pandemic with COVID-19 and a total lockdown of all industrialised countries forced another cycle to emerge in the fashion industry. Ultimately, fashion had to switch to the digital environment. The phenomenon of digital fashion has questioned the traditional fashion trends and managed to signify its social importance. Nowadays, digital fashion can be considered an industry of its own. Being socially and culturally valuable in any society, fashion defines an individual identity. With the appearance of digital fashion its trends are changing and identities are being altered. Influenced by technologies, identities are being constantly transformed, new digital channels and platforms allow to transfer of physical identity into a digital one. Contemporary consumers don’t buy high-end-brands, they reduce overconsumption and appreciate environmentally-friendly production. Thus, digital fashion offers updated tools to the fashion industry both to improve its sustainability in manufacturing and consumption and to create new marketing strategies. The arrival of NFTs - non-fungible tokens - into the fashion industry has infiltrated almost every sector of the market, providing a consumer with a possibility to own a unique digital asset of the garment. The intersection between NFTs and fashion unifies digital artists and fashion consumers in beneficial cooperation that builds uptight links among them. The Internet of Things and social media platforms allow fashion to tell brands what to design, produce and sell. Therefore, the possibilities of digital and virtual tools in the space of fashion allow for a new aesthetic language to appear, a new way of expressing the creativity that speaks to younger audiences who are digitally native. As a lot of attention has recently shifted from traditional fashion to a digital one, and this study aims to determine the new technological contribution to the emergence of a digital fashion phenomenon on the market.