The Great Retail Reckoning Is Here

Jonathan Anderson Doesn't Fake It [View on Web]( [Add to contacts]( [New reader? Subscribe]( [BoF]( THE DAILY DIGEST ADVERTISEMENT [May Trial]( FROM THE EDITOR Dear BoF Community, This week, The Bank of England warned that the UK is set to plunge into its deepest recession in more than 300 years. Unemployment figures in the UK, Canada and the United States for the month of April are the worst in living memory, with tens of millions of people out of work. The European Commission is now forecasting a staggering 7.4 percent economic contraction this year in the EU, the worst in the history of the 27-nation bloc. To say that the forecasts for the global economy are grim is an understatement. The first fashion retail casualties of the crisis emerged this week as [J.Crew]( and [Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy protection]( and [Lord & Taylor was reported to be readying itself for liquidation](. Yet, across these countries and around the world, other stores are preparing to reopen, in hopes that customers will come back and shop in spite of the dramatic turn of events. This may be wishful thinking. Indeed, opinion polls on both sides of the Atlantic suggest that people remain fearful of going out into the open while the virus continues to spread. When the lockdowns do lift, there is also likely to be a great tussle between landlords — some of whom haven't been paid rent in months — and retailers, who will try to renegotiate their rents for the new normal. If they are not able to agree, [the future of thousands of American shopping malls will hang in the balance]( as their core tenants continue to teeter on the edge. Plus, with social distancing measures dramatically reducing footfall, this great retail reckoning is set to continue for the foreseeable future. And anyway, shopping for clothes is quite literally the last thing on the minds of most customers. There is growing sentiment that the overconsumption plaguing consumer economies has got to stop. To learn more about the collapse of American retail, please join us next week for one of our best weeks #BoFLIVE yet, including an exclusive conversation with [American retail legend Mickey Drexler]( and [in-depth chats with Marc Jacobs and Alber Elbaz](. You can explore the full schedule here. Here's to a restful and restorative weekend. Imran Amed, Editor in Chief P.S. Don't miss this week's episodes of the BoF Podcast, where BoF's [Tim Blanks chats with Jonathan Anderson about creative leadership in the time of Coronavirus]( and we hear an emotional plea for action from former BoF 500 cover star Kalpona Akter, a garment worker-turned-activist in Bangladesh [who explains the trade-off between lives and livelihoods in Bangladesh's garment industry.]( THE BOF PODCAST [Podcasts]( [The BoF Podcast: Jonathan Anderson Says, ‘If It Feels Fake, I Don’t Want It’]( BY BoF Team [The creative director of JW Anderson and Loewe talks to BoF Editor-at-Large Tim Blanks about the need for greater transparency in the fashion industry.]( WHAT I'VE BEEN READING [This Week in Fashion]( [The Uncertain Future of the American Mall]( BY BoF Team [This week, Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy, Nordstrom announced the permanent shuttering of 16 stores and Lord & Taylor said it would liquidate merchandise in all of its locations, raising questions about the future of the shopping malls they anchor.]( To access this article, become a BoF Professional Member [JOIN]( [Intelligence]( [How to Go From Wholesale to Direct-To-Consumer]( BY Cathaleen Chen [For apparel labels reliant on multi-brand retailers for sales, developing a direct business has never been more important. 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Here's how they did it.]( To access this article, become a BoF Professional Member [JOIN]( [News & Analysis]( [Live Blog: J.C. Penney Bankruptcy Expected Next Week, US Unemployment Rate Spikes]( BY BoF Team [Covid-19 is upending the fashion industry. Follow our live blog for continuous updates on the pandemic and more from the frontlines of fashion.]( [BoF CAREERS - FEATURED JOBS]( [Customer Service and E-commerce Fulfillment]( [Orseund Iris]( New York, United States [Sales Manager]( [Richemont]( New York, NY, US, United States [Product Manager – Marketing Data]( [Farfetch]( London, United Kingdom [View All Jobs](  [Subscribe Were you forwarded this email? 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