What: As Shanghai and other Chinese cities continue their weeks-long lockdowns, fashion and beauty brands are having to adapt the way they do business.

Why is it important: From Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Shanghai, businesses in cities that play a key role in the fashion economy have been halted or hampered by the pandemic one after the other.

Shenzhen, along with Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, has formed the front rank of China’s fashion industry, becoming an important symbol and contributing to the improvement of the country’s fashion image on the global stage, marking its progress toward becoming comparable to Europe and America. Meanwhile, Shanghai, as the city with the country’s largest economic output, is the window of Chinese fashion to the world and the center of the supply chain for the domestic market.

At this critical moment, fashion companies headquartered in Shanghai have strategic layouts. For example, K-Boxing menswear has done research and development into a product called the “Angel’s Armor,” which can accommodate all kinds of nucleic acid testing sampling items in a timely manner.

Department store group Lane Crawford provided free outdoor electronic advertising screens for charity promotion, prepared fresh vegetable gift packs for Shanghai customers who are self-quarantining at home, provided gift boxes for customers containing Protector Daily masks with professional-level filtration and elegant designs and protective spray sets from Bondi Wash, an antibacterial plant brand from Australia. It also enhanced training for staff on communication with customers remotely during the closure.

These actions are similar to what occurred in the West in 2020 and 2021 during its various lockdowns as a result of COVID-19. Luxury, fashion, and beauty groups from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton to Clarins pivoted their operations to producing sanitizer or personal protective equipment, while retailers including Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Macy’s Inc., and Costco saw their online sales boom.

For customers who are unable to visit stores, Lane Crawford provides personalized services through online channels such as live streaming and online communication with style consultants. To provide customers with a convenient and diverse shopping experience, it continues to improve its online services by launching initiatives such as holiday wish lists and membership of WeChat apps.

How Chinese fashion companies adapt to three years of the pandemic