One of the greatest challenges facing luxury retail today is adapting to an e-commerce model. And that was before the coronavirus hit. Now, most of fashion’s establishments are racing against the clock to develop innovative strategies to attract online shoppers as consumer behaviour shifts and further contraction and store closures appear inevitable. Yet, in the midst of all this change and uncertainty, opportunities for a new retail landscape await, if brands have the agility, and the stomach for it.

Irish fashion designer Zoë Jordan is somewhat ahead of the curve. She made the decision to restructure late last year and, amidst the current crisis, is appreciating some of the benefits her new business model offers.

Jordan’s supplier, a small family-run factory, is based in Shenzhen, China and was in one of the regions hit early by Covid-19. Production ceased at the end of January, but she is not yet panicking.

Born in Dublin and raised in Hong Kong and London, Jordan studied architecture before deciding to work as a bond trader in New York for HSBC and later Credit Suisse. After a few hectic years on Wall Street, she left the world of finance in order to pursue clothing design. She set up her eponymous label in 2011 and went on to be shortlisted for the BFC/Vogue Designer Fund in 2012. Zoë Jordan offers knitwear, and more recently customised leisurewear. Utilitarian and effortless, ideal for lounging around – the epitome of quarantine chic, should that become a thing.

Jordan’s supplier, a small family-run factory, is based in Shenzhen, China and was in one of the regions hit early by Covid-19. Production ceased at the end of January, but she is not yet panicking. Six months ago, she made the decision to go from a wholesale partner supplying stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, Selfridges and Brown Thomas to a direct-to-consumer model, meaning she is somewhat cushioned from the extensive fallout hitting many major brands at this time.

“It was really fortunate given the crisis, but to be honest, I felt like this wholesale model and lack of control over the brand had reached a biting point for me,” she tells me by phone from her home in the Balearic Islands.

“Trying to do something for each individual store, when they all have different drivers meant I was working really hard for them. When you’re trying to please other people you’re not doing what you necessarily believe in.”

In the end, decreasing margins forced her hand. “Shipping, duties and stores, especially in the States, requiring discounts and distribution, and creating new collections every two or three months, going to Paris for shows – there was huge expense and while the revenues coming from this business are healthy, the margins were very small. I didn’t feel it was the smartest way to play the game.”

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“It felt like that retail model was a little bit broken. Stores want newness all the time. They don’t just want new pieces, they want new brands, the turnover is so high.”

A self-owned independent label lends itself to agility, but Jordan’s foresight and ability to adapt can be traced back to her diverse career to date and a colourful childhood. The daughter of former Formula One boss, Eddie Jordan and wife Marie, Zoë and her siblings enjoyed a somewhat nomadic lifestyle as their father pursued his fast-paced career. The art of adaptation – to new countries, languages, schools and situations – was a valuable souvenir she picked up along the way. But the decision to change tack and sell exclusively on her website came after the designer, husband Steve Aspinall and their three daughters moved to the island of Mallorca, where they are currently living under an army-enforced lockdown. 

“I wanted to pull back and think about next steps because for me, it felt like that retail model was a little bit broken. Stores want newness all the time. They don’t just want new pieces, they want new brands, the turnover is so high. You can’t rely on a steady income from one store. They’re all hopping and changing and someone new comes in and they want a whole new inflection of brands,” she says.

“It’s like the whole Instagram thing that drives people to wear new clothes all the time, to never be shot in the same thing twice, that has filtered through to the stores and they only want to see something once or twice. I felt like it was coming to a bit of a juncture. It wasn’t really working for us long-term and given our move to Spain and other external lifestyle factors as well, I wasn’t enjoying it as much.

“Living in Spain has really given me perspective into the bubble that is London, Paris, New York. You see a bigger picture. It’s like a rollercoaster you got on, but can’t get off. We made the decision to get off that rollercoaster. Now, I think about what I’m delivering and making absolutely sure it sits with the customer for when they want new styles, that Christmas jumper or their set for travel, and being really specific about when we drop it, the weight of the fabric, etc.”

Adopting an online-only sales model presents a major shift, but one that Jordan felt needed to happen. “I obviously couldn’t see this [crisis] coming, but I felt the fashion industry was headed for change. I historically come from a finance background so I could kind of see, from a macroeconomic point of view things weren’t going too well for retail.”

Supplying a mix of international stores forced Jordan to stagger deliveries, resulting in stock build-ups and cashflow issues. “There’s a simplicity to what we do now, that allows me to be a bit more creative, and have a bit more fun with it, if I’m honest. It’s really streamlined, but it’s enabled us to work remotely, get the bare bones and see where we want to go from here. It gives us more flexibility but it is hard work. It’s easy to grow a business, but less easy to restructure.”

“We used to have credit terms and now they can’t afford to give us those so that’s one of the major challenges ahead.”

Direct to consumer selling isn’t without its challenges either. “The sales are slower and the numbers are lower” and Jordan is having to learn on her feet.

“Where we’d had a big pick up in business was through almost old-fashioned trunk shows. Working through friends of friends, being introduced to like-minded people and customers through that kind of model, which we obviously can’t do anymore. So that’s a big chunk of the business we’ve had to pull back on and reschedule. We also found, and maybe it’s to do with the product, but knitwear doesn’t translate as well online, as in person. So I think there is that touch element we’re missing now with the restrictions in place.”

There is light, however, in the form of her factory recently reopening in China. “They’ve been hard hit by this, particularly in terms of cashflow. They’re a lot tougher with us on terms of payment. We used to have credit terms and now they can’t afford to give us those so that’s one of the major challenges ahead.”

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“We have control over costs and stock. Whatever we create we just have to sell.”

For now though, the juggle is between homeschooling and rewriting the company’s critical path. “Obviously, there’s business being missed. And it presents the challenge of what do we produce now? We need to be cautious not to drop lots of knitwear in the summer months. But on the flip side, we’re not facing cancelled orders from stores, which is a huge relief. I dread to think how it’s all being shaken down if there’s lost collections in the mix,” she said.

“Having control over my own brand, rather than being reliant on the big stores is a positive for us at the moment. We have control over costs and stock. Whatever we create we just have to sell. We are lucky with our factory as well that they will negotiate smaller numbers, so we’re not held to these very high minimums which some of the bigger manufacturers are.”

Jordan said she expects many fashion brands are likely to follow suit. “Everyone will have to get rid of all their costs, decrease as much as they can, go online and build up again with little projects, offering something really unique on their sites, that the customer can’t get anywhere else in order to survive. That’s why we’ve really invested in our custom products, we’re selling bomber jackets you can customise with your name on the back. It’s a chance to be expressive and create something you can’t get anywhere else. I think people want to spend their money on things that are really special at the moment, something really unique.”

“I think you’ll probably see a lot of brands simplify, hopefully, a lot of independent brands going back to doing what they do really well and just focusing on that.”

For now, though, it’s about survival and taking it one day at a time. “I guess, we’re all in it together so there’s solace in that. Sometimes it feels like that stage after having a new baby and you can’t leave the house and you’re just eating and sleeping and feeding children, and it’s just on repeat and you barely have the chance to have a shower,” she says.

“I think there’ll be some good to come out of it, but I don’t think I’ll be home-schooling my kids anytime soon. I do really miss things like playing sports or going for a run. It’s freedom, isn’t it? We’re all so used to doing what we want. It’s a bit of a wake-up call. There’s that collectiveness though and that family thing which is quite important to me.

“I think that’s more reflected through my brand today, it feels more real and true than just following fashion trends. It’s easy to get swept up in what the fashion industry demands, and what is expected, having to do something new every season and something outrageous the press are going to love, but as you get a little older and wiser you realise it has to make sense. I think you’ll probably see a lot of brands simplify, hopefully, a lot of independent brands going back to doing what they do really well and just focusing on that.”