The fashion industry is just one of many that has been devastatingly impacted by COVID-19. To help buoy our industry and support American creatives, Vogue and the CFDA have launched a fundraising initiative, A Common Thread. Vogue’s editor in chief and Condé Nast artistic director Anna Wintour and CFDA chairman Tom Ford shared how they have been impacted by COVID-19 and why it is so crucial for our community to come together and support each other during this time.
“Over the past three weeks, all of us at Vogue and at the CFDA have been preoccupied not only with a terrible health crisis but with the question of what can we do to help,” Wintour says. While the most pressing crisis is on the front lines, sustaining the American fashion business cannot be forgotten.
“Tom and I are not doctors, but there is so much help that is needed, especially as small businesses and workers around this country suffer devastating economic consequences,” Wintour said, adding: “The fashion industry has been hit hard. I have been speaking to so many American designers and others in the community who fear that they won’t make their payroll or have had their orders returned, stores closed, who fear that their businesses and their livelihoods may not survive what we’re going through. The fund we’ve created is intended to help them and the talented people they work with.”
In his video, which adheres to Ford’s expert directorial standards, the designer goes on to explain how the virus is impacting fashion behind the scenes. “Our goal with A Common Thread is not only to highlight the designers whom you all know and love, but also focus on those individuals who keep our industry running,” Ford said. “The people who work tirelessly behind the scenes in our country’s incredibly strong and vibrant fashion industry.… Our suppliers are suffering, our supply chain has been interrupted, and retail in most regions has ground to a halt. This virus is impacting the job security for all of those Americans, who depend on fashion for their paychecks.”
From Vogue US
