The Instagram posts often begin much the same. “To our most valued customers, after taking some time to reflect on how far we have come in our brand journey, as well as the current conditions affecting the fashion industry, we have made the heartbreaking decision to close our business.”
Pietrobon’s former colleague, Marissa Ganino – the pair worked together at denim retailer Westco 20 years ago – isn’t closing her brand, Tunik, but has paused production indefinitely on her Melbourne-made printed dresses to focus on jewellery, which is still selling reasonably well. Croft, whose pieces mostly sell between $500 and $800, says making Corepret more profitable required too many ethical compromises. “It didn’t sit well with me that the only way I could grow the brand was to pump out product.”“The messaging out there is stop buying so much; that is true for fast fashion, but unless we start selling some product, there won’t be any fashion labels left,” she says.
But that’s not entirely true. People are still shopping, particularly at the extremities of the market.
“I look at brands, there’s one thousand things on the clearance area of their website – and this is not a fast fashion brand,” says Tunik’s Ganino. “And I think, shit, what has gone on there?”Seasoned public relations executive Libby Hutton started Monte, a brand selling luxury slippers, in 2018 . While not technically a “COVID-19 brand”, Monte took off during the pandemic, when sales of loungewear exploded.