Category: Fashion

Rag & Bone is yet another company that’s making permanent changes due to the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus.
The brand has permanently laid off at least 70 employees, WWD has learned, a mix of retail and corporate workers, and furloughed the rest of its staff for the time being. The layoffs affect operations in the U.S., where it has 30 stores, including several outlet locations.
A company representative confirmed there were layoffs without specifying how many people were affected, but said there was a reduction in employees across the whole of corporate and retail.
“A comprehensive assessment of all areas within the business was made to maintain the critical needs of the organization,” the company said in a statement.
Those who lost their jobs with Rag & Bone permanently were given severance and assistance with health-care benefits. According to state notices filed in New York and California, which only cover workers in those states, at least 220 Rag & Bone workers have been laid off or furloughed.
As for those on furlough, the company did not say it has a planned date for when they will be put back to work, only that it will be “as soon as it’s possible.”
A number of

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Queen of Raw, a blockchain and AI-powered platform that pairs buyers and sellers of unused fabrics, is one of three teams that has landed funding via MIT Solve, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology initiative.
Led by cofounder and chief executive officer Stephanie Benedetto, Queen of Raw is the “2019 Circular Economy Solver.” Access Afya, a Kenya-based health-care center that caters to the urban poor, and Kinedu, an app that specializes in video-based, research-supported activities for children under age four, are also receiving funding.
With $120 billion worth of unused fabric stowed away in factories and being burned or buried, Queen of Raw works to make those sustainable materials available to people at any time and from any place. Deadstock and sustainable fabrics can be bought and sold online through its marketplace. Factories, brands and retailers post their unused fabric for resale on the platform so that purchasers can have easy access to new materials at lower price points.
Orders can vary from one yard to one million yards. The company claims to have saved more than one billion gallons of water through its efforts. With the global textile market expected to hit $1.23 trillion by 2025, less than 1 percent of material used

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This month, many states will start easing stay-at-home restrictions set because of the coronavirus pandemic, permitting businesses nationwide to begin reopening their doors.
Fashion retailers have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, which has forced many to shutter their doors, furlough their staffs or reduce operations. Several companies, including J. Crew and Neiman Marcus, have filed for bankruptcy due in part to the virus.
After nearly two months of limited operations, major retailers such as Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, among others, have started implementing reopening strategies, which include resuming operations in states with relaxed restrictions, offering curbside pickup or by-appointment services.
Check back on this post, as it will be updated as news develops.
Here, WWD looks at the major U.S. retailers that have started reopening their doors.
Abercrombie & Fitch:
The fashion brand reopened an undisclosed number of locations in states that have eased stay-at-home restrictions.
American Eagle Outfitters Inc.:
The company has reopened 207 American Eagle and Aerie stores across the country. The stores will be practicing social distancing and will offer curbside and in-store pickup options.
Belk:
The department store chain reopened stores in Arkansas and South Carolina and will be operating at limited capacity. Belk also offers curbside pickup.
Bluemercury:
The beauty retailer will reopen

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Is fashion still relevant? That’s the question on Virgil Abloh’s mind.
The Off-White and Louis Vuitton men’s designer posed to his Instagram followers on Monday in a stream of consciousness-like video. Abloh himself feels that it is still relevant, but used the three minute, 55 second video captioned “I think in run-on sentences” to counter his own belief.
Abloh names several muses and sources of inspiration behind his designs to present his argument in the video, which shows scenes from his past collections. His voiceover starts the video by stating his Louis Vuitton collection was “a matter of my call and response to what is luxury clothing — not fashion — so my investigation was at the root of clothing and a human desire.”
In the video, Abloh touches on his own design process, stating “it’s sort of this matrix of using the DNA of a vocabulary I started in, but sending it into the time of the season.” He also states that other artistic professions, such as writer, architect or musician, can work in similar ways and that he’s inspired by the thought process behind creations rather than the relationship to the work.
Abloh said the purpose of the video was to reveal

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