A Brief discussion of the effects of Covid 19 to indian textile and fashion industry by Tasrifa Hazarika

1. COVID 19 PANDEMIC
AND
INDIAN GARMENT INDUSTRY
AN ERA OF MASSIVE TRANSFORMATION
Tasrifa Hazarika
New Delhi, India
June 2021

2. PANDEMIC AND INDIAN GARMENT INDUSTRY
An era of massive transformation
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COVID-19 is, first and foremost, a human tragedy, which has had a colossal effect on Mankind
globally. It has impacted the world adversely, as the global death toll rises; healthcare workers
continue to risk their lives to fight against the Virus on the front lines. The Pandemic has forced
people to stay at home to prevent the virus from spreading, which has impacted Economy, Business
and health services. After the entire country of India was put on lockdown, Office, factories and
Market places were closed and resulting migrant workers unable to return to town and villages as
public transportation halted, many are left homeless in city centres.
The Pandemic has reshaped the whole Garment industry since it has started. To stop the virus, people
had to maintain social distance and it was not possible to stop the virus in a populated country like
India, So government decided to impose lockdown in the whole country. Though the pandemic was
imposed to stop the virus from spreading, but it showed up the real challenges of the industry. Along
with the other sectors The Fashion industry was affected as consumer demand decreased,events and
ceremonies were cancelled, Regular orders to the manufacturer cancelled/postponed, export
companies started losing the orders and so on. However the Pandemic has given us enough time to
rethink about developing the industry in a sustainable way to combat new challenges coming in near
future.
“Covid didn’t break fashion industry- it Exposed a Broken system”—The Quint
Sunil Sethi, chairman of the Fashion Design Council of India said “It was a total catastrophe for our
industry. The fortunes of manufacturers and exporters took a massive nosedive. Many were forced to
shut down or slash their workforces. At the bottom of all that are labourers like the karigars”
The pandemic has certainly left its imprints in big ways. It has created shifts on a collective
level. We essentially are living through a huge incident that will go down in history. . Here is
the detailed view of the pandemic affect in the fashion industry
Production :

3. India is the 2nd largest exporter of garments apparel with a massive raw material and manufacturing
base. The textiles industry is a significant contributor to the economy, both in terms of its domestic
share and exports. During the pandemic India faced various issues with production including lack of
Raw material, Transportation. Due to the restrictions of transpirations the fabrics and other materials
couldn’t be transported resulted the production process slow down. Many brands stopped working
with overseas manufactures because it was too expensive, which also inspired consumers to shop
more consciously.
Distributing:
Since the stores and outlets were closed as per Govt guidelines, the market demand shifted towards e
commerce which has created a dramatic effect in the industry as a whole. The stores were closed and
the best alternative to fulfil the demands and necessities were the online commerce options. Since the
online marketing platforms already in a nurtured stage so it was easy for the consumers and sellers to
shift to the online marketplace.
Trading:
The sales started to decline since the start of the pandemic, the main reasons is the less consumer
demand for clothing. As the ceremonies and events cancelled/postponed, Vacations and outings were
restricted, and people were staying at home so people starting to put less emphasis on clothing.. All of
that has an impact on how we dress, what we shop for, and how we shop for it. Trade and industry
were recovering with great difficulty from the first wave; the devastation caused by the second wave
has resulted in huge losses due to suspension of economic activity across the country. We can witness
a jump in Retail prices because sanitation and social distancing are adding costs to the production.
Employment and working condions:
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the Layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts are also affecting the industry parallel to the Pendamic. The

4. decline in business directly affected on the Profit Margin of the industry which impacted adversely
upon the employees and workers working in the industry. Due to stores are shut and production
houses were closed, a huge number of people lost their job and given leave for a temporary period
time. Many Garment production companies announced they would furlough the majority of their
staff, resulting in hundreds of thousands of employees and workers going without pay during the
Coronavirus pandemic. Media reports that migrant workers in Ahmedabad who didn't return home
during the pandemic were weeks from running out of food, struggled to access healthcare or relief,
and faced acute livelihood problems during the partial lockdowns imposed by the state to curb the
second wave of COVID-19.
© https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
During the lockdowns only export-oriented units were able to continue working. Home-based women
workers, who rely on outsourced value addition work such as thread-cutting and collar and button
sewing, have not had any substantial orders since last year's lockdown. artisans also heavily relied
on offline exhibitions happening in metropolitan cities. They usually save their best pieces to
showcase in these exhibitions - since exhibitions stopped another source of their income had
come to a standstill.
Consumer behaviour:
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the prerequisite of fashion industry forever. The consumer
behaviour is not the same anymore which was used to be before pre pandemic. The necessity to
purchase clothing on a frequent basis no longer exists, and numerous brands and stores had to close
its doors forever. The requirement for the Formal clothing declined as offices were mostly operated
through work from home and people staying in home prefers wearing comfortable clothing.
Weddings have been cancelled and postponed. Concerts have been cancelled. A lot of culture and
people-gathering had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. However we can witness a casualization of
clothing along with the time. leisureware and casual-wear sales have seen a huge acceleration over
this pandemic. This is to mention that since the pandemic started the Face mask has been a trend and
consumers has shown a tremendous demand on facemasks.
High fashion

5. Many international and Domestic brands, designers and heritage brands employs severalIndian
artisans. , working day and night for creating handmade embroidery and needled embellishments for
the world’s most powerful fashion brands were empowering the major fashion runways of the world.
Since the pandemic started,orders were cancelled and postponed and people lost their job working
for these high fashion brands. With many Western markets still closed, events such as big weddings,
parties and fashion shows have dropped off the calendars of wealthy clients, many of whom are not
in the mood to spend on pricey fashion and accessories
Fashion Trends
The pandemic has caused a shift in the way people engage with their clothing.
While staying at home and working from home, the interest has been shifted to the comfortable and
casualclothing rather than the formal. The Athleisure and Casual-wear sales have seen a huge
acceleration over this pandemic as people shoed interests in comfortable clothing. Loungewear and
paijamas were the most preferred clothing while staying at home. Our clothes aren't the only things
that have become more casualduring the pandemic—so have our accessories,specifically our shoes.
Facemask has become a very important accessory since the start of the pandemic. No other fashion
trend seems to gain popularity as facemask started to earn since the starting of 2020. Small and large
- every scale of industries started making masks and brings it to the marketplaces.
Social media
through digital platforms, direct-to-consumer- Social media has played a key role in the pandemic.
The impact of social media in the fashion industry has resulted in closing the gap between the brand
and the customers. During the time of the pandemic as online sales has been increased so the social
media helped consumers to fulfil their needs through social media marketplace. It became easy to
start a brand or launch a new label for the emerging designers and entrepreneurs because socialmedia
has made it easier to access global consumers. Through Facebook marketplace, Instagram pages
consumers can connect to the sellers and designers.
Also to mention many renowned Fashion houses and designers came forward to lend a helping hand
to the society during the pandemic through social media. For example Designer Manish Malhotra
partnered with iimunofficial for “FIND A BED” campaign to provide beds for covid patients across
the country. Designer Gaurav Gupta partnered with “GivieIndia”, a donation platform for OXYGEN
FOR INDIA for providing oxygen and help India to breath.
in may 2020 Instagram has started a new campaign to encourage the small scale industries, designers
and artisans as the businesses are facing challenges during the covid 19 crisis. With the Support small
business Sticker on Instagram people can easily show their interest and it helps businesses to reach
its customers and stay connected to the people they serve.
Future Perspective
The pandemic has certainly left its imprints in big ways. It showed us that the infrastructure of
the garment Industry is fragile to disruptions and the global/domestic supply chain is weak. So it is
the hightime to reinvent and reconstruct the aspects of the whole industry in a collective level.
Though it was a tough time for the people engaged to the industry yet there are chances to improve
the current situations and create a better environment and sustainable development through
innovative thinking. The adoption of technology can enable faster and more efficient production. We
know that China is the largest exporter of Textiles, however the new anti-Chinese sentiment that has

6. grown due to the virus has brought fresh opportunities for Indian textile and apparel producers. The
Industry need to improve their productivity and quality to replace China as the 'supplier of choice' in
international markets. While companies had already, to some extent, begun investing in digital tools
such as improved data analytics and demand forecasting prior to COVID-19,
The crisis has forced both buyers and manufacturers to more quickly advance their plans to digitalize
the production to be able to better respond to a rapidly changing consumer market. Some experts
indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic could have positive impacts on the industry. It was proposed
that the pandemic would create positive change by the forceful action taken by the industry to address
the major issues. As of now the important aspect is adopting recycling the industry to eliminate waste
and produce more output.
Furthermore, some experts forecasted that COVID-19 will further highlight the benefits of
sustainable practices also from a business perspective, Governments to take responsibility for the
social and environmental impact of the industry. For example, stronger partnerships between buyers
and suppliers and investments in technology, which would enable more transparency, could
contribute to a more sustainable sector over time creating a better environment to work.
There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic will make for a difficult 2020. For some
companies, even survival will be a struggle. If, however, apparel and fashion Industry lead with
compassion and undertake bold actions, they can position themselves not only to weather the crisis
but to emerge from it even stronger.
Sources
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survival-tryst-with-death-family-children-psychological-impact-road-to-recovery
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7. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349367809_IMPACT_OF_COVID-
19_ON_TEXTILE_AND_FASHION_INDUSTRY_INDIA_ECONOMIC_PERSPECTIVE
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