Lockdown | Lessons Learned In Isolation
12 min. Read | Editorial | A.M.
Interviews with Suk Chai & Luis Velez
Featuring Anjelika Frye & Luis Velez
wearing Guillermo Bravo throughout
Story & photography by A.M.
Originally published in The April Issue, 2020.
How to pivot in times of uncertainty:
Reconnect with your passion and creativity.
Ask what you can change in 5 - 10 degree increments.
Edit and reduce your resources and output.
Create as many sale points as you can through the few items you will produce moving forward.
Connect with your customers.
Intentionally design your brand story & PR via social channels.
Include video wherever possible.
Be authentic and speak from the heart.
Design flexibility into your business model moving forward.
News of the Wuhan quarantine hit fashion insiders late last year, and those whose business relies upon Chinese manufacturing understood the implications of a widespread government shutdown. It all felt unsettlingly familiar, as similar signs occurred with the SARS outbreak of 2003, and again with the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. Yet these signs alone were not predictors of how governments and global agencies would respond in a time of crisis. Nor could they predict the impact on the fashion industry.
From fashion weeks to fashion businesses being either cancelled or entering bankruptcy, and with tens of thousands of fashion professionals either furloughed or let go entirely, it's not overstating to suggest the impact has been immense. And most difficult to grapple with are now the over 100,000 deaths that have occurred directly linked to COVID-19.
Yet the planet itself shows signs of renewal. NASA's images of metropolitan areas show nitrogen dioxide emissions have been significantly reduced. Wildlife roams newly abandoned downtown streets and public areas. Gray whales have been spotted near Grays Harbor. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) have been released back into the North Cascades. With the threat of global warming at its most critical levels in our recorded history, Earth moves forward the way it always has since time immemorial.
Washington State officials took immediate and measured actions to protect its citizens by issuing a formal state of emergency and urging social distancing and self-isolation. All non-essential business entities were urged to suspend operations. And while areas like downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill saw pockets of vandalism and destruction of property, most citizens adhered to Governor Inslee's mandates.
And then something happened that was completely unexpected. Healthcare professionals, facing critical shortages of Personal Protective Equipment, and waiting on State and Federal assistance, saw what fashion is truly about when tailors, dressmakers, technical designers, and hobbyists all took to their sewing machines and devoted themselves to supplying these extreme shortages. When times get tough, the fashion world gets tougher, embracing the new as it has always done, though now with a renewed focus on something far greater than trends. We are all helping to design a better, more resilient, and more connected global community.
Messages left on plywood used to board up windows during shutdowns.
Art installation by Ellen Picken on a deserted Capitol Hill street.
Suk Chai needs no introduction and was generous enough to answer the call for an interview. When she's not traveling the world and developing brands, you can find her tending to her garden. These days, there's little else to do. Yet there's a wonderful freedom that comes from the immediate cessation of the break-neck pace with which the fashion world operates. When you spell "hustle" with a capital-F, tending to one's garden is a grace not easily relinquished.
"I've seen something similar to this maybe three times during my career in the fashion industry. But nothing ever this severe. I'm very fortunate now in that I don't rely on my fashion business exclusively, and don't need to produce collections seasonally. And I'm very thankful for that. But for the last 17 years, constantly, without rest, just looking at my bottom line 24/7, eventually you break down. And I feel like the whole global economy is facing the same thing."
"The fashion world has exploited the whole fast-fashion thing for so many years. It started back in the 80s and 90s, and became even worse as it became global. And then online business made it even bigger. And with social media influencer culture, it became even bigger still. And so many people were just buying for a nice photo for people to like. And fashion finally just became a means for a click. But clothing isn't like that."
"In Korea, there are three things that are essential—clothing, food, and shelter. And they're tangible things. And when you think about it, you don't need all of these things to survive."
"So in a way, it's ironic what's happening right now. The virus is completely crippling the industry, deeply. Manufacturers in China, people who extract and produce raw materials, have been crippled by this. I just texted one of my favorite factories in Italy. They're one of the largest family-owned businesses in the world, and even they are hurting. Everybody's hurting. So what do you do?"
"Eventually people will come out of this wanting to wear fancy clothes again, and want to have their social media presence again. But it's going to have to be done in a much different and thoughtful way. People are going to have to be more conscious of what they're selecting, buying, choosing to photograph, and wearing."
"I've been on this path where, for several years, I've stopped doing my version of mass production and seasonal designing. I now only design and produce things when I want to and need to. Not everybody can survive that way. But there's going to have to be a way where people can do this without having to mass produce and go to trade shows all the time."
"With Zoom meetings that people all over the world are having, and with even newer technology coming that can allow you to use a device and digitally touch and feel what a fabric is really like, eventually our digital technology is going to have to become so accessible that this industry won't need to produce like we've always done."
"And especially at this time, the content of our public messaging really matters. Thoughtfulness. Compassion. We need to thank the farmers who are gathering our fibers and producing them. And not just think of people, but the materials themselves. We need to rethink our dye methods and waste. And big businesses can do that because they have the means to shift their priorities. But small businesses are going to be much harder because they depend on entrenched systems and individual sales month-to-month to survive."
"But hopefully, all of us can finally shift into this slower pace of fashion. Yes, we'll lose people. And we'll have a lot of brands and factories falling out. But looking from a ten-thousand foot perspective, ten years down the road, things might be in a much better place where fashion doesn't hurt the earth nearly as much, and our income isn't hurt either."
"I'm really appreciative of fashion designers, technical designers, and friends of mine in the industry producing masks right now. And it's so great to see what people are doing. They're using their resources to make an impact in our communities."
"And there are things that are going to become invaluable in our craft. In particular, making things with our own hands is going to be very important. Even with cooking at home. People who are just learning to cook and bake aren't just passing the time—they're challenging themselves to learn something new and incredibly useful. I'm hoping that the industry sees this is an opportunity to really trim down on our toxic waste, fast-pace, bargain-sale consumerism. That attitude has to eventually fade away. And I think the whole influencer market may change, and their content will matter a lot more in the future."
"I understand this is very difficult for small businesses and designers. And I think the best thing for them to do right now now is what they do best. Think of it like this: All of a sudden, you might have to shut down your business because you can't make it financially. What are you going to do? You have to pivot. And you have to do something you're the best at when you're at that moment when it feels like you're at the very bottom. You come back with your passion. With what you love. Or else you'll never grow past this. If you don't put your love into it, and keep looking at the numbers, your business just won't grow. Consumers aren't only going to be looking at the numbers anymore."
"Because fashion is also such an emotional business. I really think people are going to eventually fall into the category of touch, feel, and wear, finding creative uses for wearing a particular garment many times without always needing to purchase a new one. So I definitely think that environmentally speaking, things are great for the planet right now. But obviously not for people. But I can't help feeling like, in a way, there's something telling us we need to slow down and ask, How do we rethink our business?"
Luis Velez, Founder + Creative Director of Guillermo Bravo based in Capitol Hill.
Luis Velez is the Creative Director of Guillermo Bravo—an apparel and footwear brand based in Capitol Hill. What began with a modified hightop sneaker quickly grew into a line of ungendered separates and outerwear deeply rooted in Luis' love for the Pacific Northwest and industrial design. Born in Columbia and raised in Miami, Luis has been a Seattle resident for the past decade. And in all this time, he's never seen his supply chain so deeply impacted.
"I've been taking a lot of deep breaths. I'm just navigating these wild changes. Still waiting for factories to open up in LA so we can get some dates lined up to visit and produce the upcoming apparel. And for the footwear, it's going to take a lot longer because of what Italy has had to endure. So we'll just have to be on pause until we can develop the new sneaker we have on deck. The developers got on board about when the coronavirus hit, so now we just have to wait, and hopefully we can get back to it as soon as possible. So now we're just kind of rerouting the plan for all things apparel and footwear, as much of the industry is doing right now. It's just a very, very different world we're living in. But our spirits and health are definitely right where they should be, I feel. And it's something I've always been able to have throughout all my life, really."
"Being a person who's been though 9/11, coming from a country that was ravaged by the Medellín Cartel, I think it's important to keep things in perspective. This is something the world has really never experienced, and hopefully will never experience again. But I think entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. And learning to pivot is vital to your success. If you can't pivot, you're not going to be around for very long. So you really have take the time to ask how the world is going to change, and how interacting with your demographic is going to change. Content has always been key, but I think it's going to be even more important now than ever. Having an even greater focus on having unique content, especially video, is going to be vital for the survival of any brand, in any category, fashion or not."
"I also think we're super lucky because now that we're forced to be home, forced to be isolated. Seeing somebody actually manufacture stuff by hand is something that's not seen very much at all, and will now become even more important for people. So I think it's a unique proposition we find ourselves in and I think that it's something that if we use it the right way, will really allow us to flourish as a brand and really connect to people in an authentic way."
"I think slow fashion started to become a movement where I'd have friends come into the studio and I'd be cutting T-shirts. And they'd be like, Wait, that's what you have to do to make a T-shirt? And I'd be like, Yeah, this is how you properly cut and sew a T-shirt. And they'd be like, That's awesome! I never knew what it takes to make something like this just by hand. And I'm like, Yeah, this is why you pay 90 bucks for a T-shirt rather than 10 bucks when it can be made from scratch just for you. And it's not only that. But slow fashion is so important because it can become the greater part of the DNA of a brand if it's done in the right way."
Anjelika Frye wearing Guillermo Bravo ensemble in front of Optimism Brewing Company. The brewery featured a campaign WELCOMING artists to create work that would appear on their street-facing windows.
While pivoting a brand or a portion of your business can be a vital part of a larger strategy, it's not the only part. And if you pivot too often, you won't give your customers the opportunity to understand where you're going or why. But especially in times of crisis, you must return to first principles if you're to have any chance of making it through what Seth Godin calls The Dip. And more than a dip, the global fashion industrial complex will be forced to evolve in order to survive. And we'll either evolve with it, or become extinct.
Suk offers insight into how smaller businesses can begin to process their own first principles, as well as tactics that will ensure your strongest supporters understand your journey and choose to continue it with you.
"First of all, you need to go back to your brand and ask how you can pivot. What you do moving forward has to come back to the brand's vision and your business plan. And when you look over it, you need to see it as if you just lost your entire business, because many have. But once you get your business plan adjusted to meet your current temperature in this crisis, remember, you're not trying to pivot 180-degrees, or even 90-degrees. But five or even ten degrees in a given direction. Maybe you only make fifteen styles, or even ten. Focus more on the things you do best. Edit and reduce your resources and your output. You need to create as many sale points you can through the few items you will produce going forward into the future."
"Then once you have a plan, you need to connect with your customers. Send out thoughtful letters expressing your appreciation. And not a bunch of flash-sale gimmicks. You have to work that into marketing content for your customers and let them know you're thinking of them. I sent out direct emails to my clients because I was thinking about them and hoping they were okay. And things like that really touch people's heart. And again, fashion is a very emotional business. You need to let people know how much you care."
"In the beginning of my career, I was never comfortable reaching out to people. I wanted a sales person to do that for me. But the sales person is never going to do the same thing that I would do. And the customer will feel like it's just some third-party sales thing. And it's not. It can't be. Even now, I've texted my friends that work at factories in New York just to check in with them. I think people will definitely appreciate that now more than ever. Even just checking in with each other, no strings attached. So going back to this idea of fashion becoming more wholesome, with more touch-points, becoming more tactile, and most importantly, touching somebody's heart. That all really matters, now especially."
"I just received an email from one of my friends who produces a really high-end, luxury brand of shoes saying that she's no longer producing seasonally anymore. And many other brands are already doing that. And re-clarifying that message is okay, because so many people are trained to purchase things based on seasons, whether they need to or not. And yes, there'a real hype and excitement going into a store or going online and seeing lots of new things. But even that's going to eventually change. And sales seasons are going to change. Clearances are going to change. None of those timings are going to match up anymore. So you really need to do what you can to reach out to your customers and let them know your plan. And then find those people who can really help your business grow."
"When buyers, marketers, and PR people see your passion and your excitement for your own product, they see it in your eyes. It's really that one-on-one contact that's where the spark happens. There have been many brands—hundreds—next to me at a trade show, but there are some buyers that just come to see me. And they won't buy if I'm not there, or if I didn't show it to them directly. Now, you can't show your products personally to every single person like that. But you want to get to a point where your buyers are hungry for you personally because they love your energy. And that's really the experience they're buying through your product. And you want them to show that same excitement, and that same experience to their customers. So it's really storytelling through your garments, through yourself, and getting to the point where you're comfortable being outside your own box—which basically describes the entire fashion industry."