As 2022 begins, the hope is that things can finally return to ‘normal’. These hopes were dashed on February 24 when the war in Ukraine entered a new phase with a full-scale attack by Russia. In addition to the ongoing war, the result is global inflation and an energy crisis. Read the most important news from the fashion industry of the year here.
January
In early 2022, sentiment is positive that this will be the year that the coronavirus will take a back seat, but first the Omicron variant continues to thwart trade. In Germany, the applies in retail 2G regulation. Bavaria is the first federal state to tip the 2G regulation in retail.
But the virus is still raging and trade fairs like that Innatex are shifted to others, such as the Neonyt and the Premium in Frankfurt take place condensed. At the end of the month, the Premium Group announces its return to Berlin. After almost 20 years in Berlin, the Premium Group decided in the summer of 2020 to make a fresh start in Frankfurt with its Premium, Seek and Fashiontech events. But because of the pandemic, the trade fairs have never been able to take place in the Main metropolis since they moved. According to the trade fair organizer, the plan to establish the events at the new location fell victim to the pandemic.
At the beginning of January, the shops are in the Netherlands still closed, resulting in a ‘Dutch invasion’ of Belgium and Germany. Dutch retailers are threatening to open stores regardless of whether the lockdown is lifted or not. The retailers in Belgium make a sales surplus of between 20 and 30 percent because of the Dutch. Shops in the Netherlands are allowed to reopen from mid-January.
January is also a month in which the fashion industry loses several important figures at once. The fashion journalist Andre Leon Talleythe designer Manfred Thierry Mugler and the designer Nino Cerruti passed away in January 2022.
But there is also good news to report. Startups are raising money like never before. According to a new study, young companies received a record sum of almost 17.4 billion euros in venture capital from investors – more than three times as much as in the Corona crisis year 2020 (5.3 billion euros).including the wholesale marketplace anchor store.
February
Whatever else happened in February, the month will most likely be remembered as the month when Russia’s attack on Ukraine began. On February 24, Russian troops enter Ukraine and there are reports of explosions in several parts of the country. It is the beginning of a conflict that will mark the rest of 2022.
However, February is also the month in which almost all federal states in Germany 2G regulations overturn. Of the HDE welcomes this. the supply chains are showing the first signs of relaxation after the Corona period, which unfortunately will not last long.
There is a new aid package for Karstadt Kaufhof Gallery: Germany’s last major department store chain is receiving further state aid in the hundreds of millions to deal with the Corona crisis.
Three years after the takeover, the Düsseldorf clothing group Peek & Cloppenburg is continuing all marketing and purchasing activities relating to the online luxury fashion retailer in the current year Stylebop off.
The Düsseldorf trade fair location has proven to be a constant, while other trade fairs like the one in Frankfurt have not taken place. Formats such as Supreme Men & Women, Fashion Rooms and numerous showrooms offer many buyers the only opportunity to meet physically and order at all. Before the start of the Ukraine crisis, the German fashion industry optimistic at the Düsseldorf Order Days.
The European Commission finally published the proposal for the long-awaited Due Diligence Actbut the proposal is met with strong criticism: it misses the mark, it says.
February is also the month when several fashion weeks take place physically again. underneath London, Milan, new York, Stockholm and even the first Vintage Fashion Week in Germany.
March
Austria lifts almost all corona restrictions from March 5th. Also Luxembourg loosens massively. And in Germany falls the state-mandated Mask requirement when shopping in large parts of Germany.
In March, however, the shock of the Russian invasion of Ukraine prevailed. This also permeates the fashion industry, where, for example, Giorgio Armani a silent fashion show held in solidarity with Ukraine. the Paris fashion week is also overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. The fashion houses and the public there struggled to find a balance between statements of solidarity and the glamor and spectacle of their shows.
Also at the Berlin fashion week the crisis became palpable. There was a statement runway show by Ukrainian designer Jean Gritsfeldt shown and Dawid Tomaszewski canceled his fashion show out of solidarity with Ukraine.
Various companies ceased operations in Russia, including puma, index and
Maersk and DHL. Like many other international companies, the Messe Düsseldorf Group responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The exhibition company announced that it would end its activities in Russia for the time being.
Other important moments also take place in March. Balenciaga showed a fashion show that more political statement against the war in Ukraine as a fashion event. Off-White presents the latest at Paris Fashion Week Collection designed by Virgil Abloh before his death last November.
Also will green washing criminalized by an extension of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
The fashion house Chloé introduces its See by Chloé line one and the Wolford parent company Lanvin Group announces its IPO.
April
According to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), the supply chains at sea, which have been increasingly out of sync since the beginning of the corona pandemic, are still no relief in sight.
the inflation increases. Surprisingly, the rate of inflation rose again in April: Consumer prices were 7.4 percent higher than in the same month last year, as calculated by the Federal Statistical Office on the basis of provisional data.
According to HDE, the “defining factor” is the youngest mood picture the war in Ukraine. The corona crisis, on the other hand, currently “only plays a minor role” for the consumers surveyed, despite the continued high number of cases.
The Amsterdam Denim Fair kingpins makes a comeback after the pandemic while the Chic Spring fair, scheduled for May, canceled again must become.
Meanwhile wins Saul Nash the International Woolmark Prize; the fashion industry loses fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier aged 78 and Ted Baker Plc begins a formal sales process.
Digital fashion house The Fabricant receives a capital injection of $14 million and the German sock miracle snacks is supported by the private equity company Cathay Capital with an amount in the double-digit millions.
The Austrian branch of the fashion chain Orsay filed an application for the opening of bankruptcy proceedings at the Commercial Court in Vienna on April 28.
May
It’s the first time in a long time that the Met Gala will be held on the traditional first Monday in May. Various celebrities have once again pulled out their best outfits, but there’s one outfit that’s on everyone’s lips: that of Kim Kardashianwearing a Marilyn Monroe museum piece.
Appointed Off-White Ibrahim Kamara as the new artistic director who becomes fashion brand Karl Lagerfeld for 200 million euros sold to GIII Apparel, a Calvin Klein campaign featuring a pregnant trans man causes an online debate and Zara will raise future return fees in most European countries, including Germany.
At Ted Baker Plc, a potential takeover is drawing ever closer. Therefore, it will move forward with a preferred party and according to media reports this would be the Authentic Brands Group.
The Fashion Council Germany (FCG), together with the US shoe brand Ugg, initiates the Rising Voices Award. The prize is intended to promote up-and-coming German designers with a focus on sustainability.
The fashion label Ottolingen is one of the finalists of the French young talent prize Andam Fashion Award 2022.
For the first time, the trade fair Denim Premiere Vision presented in Berlin.
June
The consumer climate in Germany fell to a record low in June due to the consequences of the Ukraine war. “The ongoing war in Ukraine and disrupted supply chains are causing energy and food prices in particular to explode and making the consumer climate more gloomy than ever,” explained GfK consumer expert Rolf Bürkl. Above all, the almost eight percent increase in the cost of living depressed the mood, he said, and purchasing power is melting away.
British fashion brand Missguided will from the Frasers Group acquired the fashion and beauty group Puig for 20 million British pounds (about 23 million euros). acquires Byredo.
Zalando takes over Highsnobiety; Orsay closes all branches in Germany and the Düsseldorf-based clothing retailer Peek & Cloppenburg KG will in future rely entirely on the Peek & Cloppenburg and Anson’s brands for online business. The e-commerce platform FashionID however, was discontinued.
In Belgium, the successor to Walter van Beirendonck at the Antwerp Academy is announced. The creative Brandon Wen follow him.
The one launched last year Strike a pose festival for art, fashion and style in Düsseldorf will take place again this year.
After the departure of the Premium fashion fair this year, Frankfurt is opting for one Fashion Week. The fashion week with more than 100 events costs the city 750,000 euros. A highlight is the designer fashion show Rene Storck on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Read Part 2 of the Year in Review next week.
This article was similarly published on FashionUnited.nl and was created with the help of Caitlyn Terra. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ.