Uncertainty about the position of European fashion companies

The fashion talks in Antwerp, Belgian on Thursday, were characterized by a feeling of urgency: there is uncertainty about the position of European fashion entrepreneurs: inside 2025. From the strong competition from Chinese e-commerce giants to a lack of creativity due to the endless scroll in social media-at the industry club for fashion experts from the flatlander DC Relevant topic that is reluctant to talk about.

Competition from China

Ed Sander, a Dutch analyst for digital technology and e-commerce in China, drew a disturbing picture of the rapidly growing influence of Chinese platforms such as Shein, Tiktok Shop, Temu and Aliexpress. These companies are a serious threat to European fashion companies, especially for smaller brands. For example, designs are copied without permission and then sold at lightning speed and at extremely low prices worldwide. Another example: import duties are often avoided by dividing large programs into small packages. These are sent individually and therefore remain under the threshold for customs costs.

Nevertheless, Sander not only asks the audience to view the Chinese actors critically during his speech. He calls European entrepreneurs: Rather, for self -reflection: “Ask yourself: What makes my business model unique? What can I offer, what others can’t?” He challenges the audience to get to know both the competition and himself well. Where e-commerce giants win at price and speed, local companies have an opportunity in quality, originality and orientation to the customers. The competition from China should be seen as an opportunity to improve your own business model.

Online inspiration versus digital stimulus overfluting

When Karen Binns, Stylist and Creative Director from New York, together with Recho Omondi, the American podcaster behind ‘The Cutting Room Floor’, is lively. Binns has a pronounced character, does not take a leaf out of his mouth and has been working in the fashion industry for names such as Kanye West and Owald Boateng for two decades. Binns pleads for a conscious handling of the smartphone. It turns to young entrepreneurs: inside in the hall and finds that originality only arises from a distance from the constant flow of information. She admits that young entrepreneurs may find it more difficult to find their unique voice than at the beginning of their career. Because “nowadays you can compare yourself with others and imitate them more easily”. She emphasizes: “When you put your phone away, creativity arises.”

In contrast, the opinion of Hanan Bešović, fashion critic and known by the Instagram account stood @ideservecouture. He emphasizes that social media accounts mostly publish information without interest groups and sponsors who edit the author’s voice: “If I want to read an honest opinion about a fashion show, I find it more online than in a fashion magazine.” According to Bešović, the Internet offers him many options as a fashion critic. “If a fashion house does not want me to visit a show (physically) because they are afraid of my honest opinion, I can simply watch the same show online and still give my review.”

Think about the ‘why’

One of the most confronting moments during the Fashion Talks came from Simon Gryspeert, Lead Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Flanders DC. During his presentation, he showed shocking pictures from the coast of Ghana, where discarded clothes from Europe piled up into meter -high mountains. The muddy shores consist of textile waste – a painful visual representation of the consequences of overproduction and disposable fashion. Although these pictures have been shared several times, the audience watched silently. The urgency to find a solution to the textile crisis remains. The numbers are alarming: An estimated 15 million clothes in Ghana land annually. Over 40 percent of them are of such low quality or damaged that reuse is impossible. These clothing ends up on land, in rivers, in the sea or are burned on site. The consequences: severe environmental damage, health problems for the local population and an impairment of the local economy.

Gryspeert also included Ann Claes, co-owner of the Claes Retail Group (CRG, parent company of JBC, CCS and Mayerline), and cleavage, managing director of Pluto, the Belgian brand for casual chic leisure and nightwear. Both entrepreneurs have joined the ‘Charter for responsible supply chain management in Belgian fashion’, a joint initiative that strives for structural reforms both in the production and in the consumption chain of clothing. Among other things, the initiative provides requirements in the areas of human rights, transparency and traceability. Fashion companies that join in commit to report their progress annually and actively work on sustainable solutions. Flanders DC coordinates and promotes this cooperation. Gryspeer emphasizes: “We don’t just have to pay attention to it What We produce, but above all Why we produce. “

Outlook: A fixed appointment in the fashion calendar

As Pascal Cools, Managing Director of Flanders DC, enters the stage of the Arenberg Theater, the loud applause appears. He announces that the fashion talks will not take place every two years from 2026, but every year in the first week of June. The ambition: to create a solid momentum for the Antwerp fashion scene. This week, Antwerp Fashion Walk and the annual master show of the fashion academy will also include. “A true momentum,” emphasizes Cools on stage. Stefan Ceunen, PR and communication managers at Flanders DC, emphasizes to Fashionunited that it will not be a ‘fashion week’ in the classic sense. He makes it clear: “We do not want to arouse expectations of large catwalks. It is more of an inspiring fashion week with events.”