Where are we headed?
It is a question on the minds of almost everyone, both in their personal and professional lives. It certainly is a question whenever industry executives meet as they attempt to read the tea leaves on what 2025 might bring after the brakes were pretty much slammed on the explosive growth the fashion, beauty, luxury and retail worlds experienced over the last four years post-COVID-19.
With so many political, economic and cultural winds swirling – from a contentious U.S. presidential election campaign to wars in the Middle East and the Ukraine to a slowing Chinese economy – it seems there has rarely been a time of such disruption (although perhaps every age says that).
How to cope with all that uncertainty requires one primary attribute, which is why this year’s WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit is titled “The Power of Resilience.”
As we enter the last quarter of 2024 and planning for 2025 is firmly underway, the questions continue to mount. Of course, who will win the election and what impact will the new president have on the economy and global issues? Will China rebound or will the government’s anti-wealth drive further disrupt luxury goods? Will the U.S consumer continue to spend? How will new technologies like AI impact the industry? How will new acquisitions and mergers reshape the industry? And more.
Such uncertainty makes planning for the future even harder. While some of these issues, like the wars and the economy, have reigned over the last few years, the industry has had an almost uncanny ability to shake them off and register growth figures that were unimaginable not just in the middle of COVID but even in 2018 and 2019. The problem was that the industry fell into a trap of believing that growth of 15, 20 and even 25 percent a year had become the new norm – it became drunk on a consumer whose wallets seemed to be bottomless.
Now reality has set in like a hard slap in the face, and even though many companies are still growing in the single digits, the overall mood is subdued at best, depressed at worst.
So different times require different strategies. Even as many consumers continue to spend, they are becoming pickier than ever in terms of quality, service and design. If brands are seeking loyalty, customers are demanding that brands also be loyal to them.
All of this requires resilience. Gone are the days when planning could stretch five years into the future. Even two years now seems too long in many cases. Predictability about store location – or even stores themselves – has disappeared. Staff in the post-COVID age requires not just good pay, but also a better work-life balance. Gen Z, now entering the workforce, is not loyal to companies or brands, but are loyal primarily to themselves, and their ability to make (or break) a brand by word-of-mouth through social media is immense (and somewhat terrifying).
Some pundits are now even questioning whether AI truly will be as revolutionary as many have predicted.
So “The Power of Resilience” is more key than ever. This year’s WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit has lined up a slate of speakers who are proving it successfully, from Gap Inc. to e.l.f.; Target to PVH Corp. There also are a slew of designers who continue to thrive even in this more difficult environment, including Brunello Cucinelli, Tory Burch, and Todd Snyder.
The Summit will be a packed day-and-a-half and will include the annual WWD Honors gala recognizing companies, brands and individuals for outstanding performance, including the three designers above plus Fran Horowitz, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch; Naiomi Glasses; Bulgari; Doen; Boucheron, and Bubble Skincare.
The Summit no doubt will spark lots of fuel for thought as companies seek to implement “The Power of Resilience.” I look forward to seeing you there.
Best,
James Fallon
Chief Content Officer
WWD & Fairchild Media Group
