Recently, (yesterday) New York City, the most fashion-forward city in America, went through a blackout. It happened in Manhatten and lasted for hours. Eventually, the electric services were up and working. Still, that had to be very shocking. Now, I know you may be wondering what the blackout has to do with fashion. Did the blackout effect business for retailers throughout New York? Maybe. Surprisingly customers don’t have an issue shopping in the dark. Of course, for legal reasons they were probably told to leave, which does affect sales. My first-hand experience of a blackout in retail was stressful. One interesting thing to note is that our customers were not phased. Nope; they simply used the flashlight on their phones, and continued to shop. Witnessing this allowed me to see first hand how impactful fashion is in society. Interestingly enough, fashion is an industry that thrives during recessions. Ever heard of “Retail Therapy”? It’s real! The fashion industry will always be one of the most lucrative and impactful of all the industries. Again, it’s up to us, the consumer. It is up to us to make sure fashion benefits the earth and society as a whole. Sustainable is the way to go!

The future of fashion always seems to be in trouble. If it isn’t about people NOT shopping, it’s about people who ARE shopping. Because of the young and aware (a.k.a Millenials), the fashion industry may be due for a great change. Net-a-porter launched a new sector online called Net Sustain. Net Sustain will feature fashion related products that are environmentally friendly i.e no animal products, sustainable fabrics, and highlighting brands that adhere to sustainable practices such as Stella McCartney and Mother of Pearl just to name a few. Milennials love earth friendly business practices. This all seemed exciting to me. Whether brands are sustainable for profit or because they care makes no difference to me as long as it’s environmentally friendly. Make saving the earth a trend. I’m all for it! Then I happened upon an article talking about the fall of TOP SHOP. This comes as no surprise. I’ve heard rumors of the TOP SHOP branch in Atlanta shutting down. Them closing down wasn’t that alarming to me. In the article, it mentioned Boohoo as one a reasons for TOP SHOPS fall. Boohoo is like Fashionova; a fast fashion retailer. They crush internet sales. Brands like Charlotte Russe couldn’t compete, and shut down. Millennials also love fashionnova and Boohoo. I hope the efforts made by sustainable brands will be enough to compete with the fast fashion brands online.