The Glass Of Fashion

Covid-19 forced agile fashion brands out of bricks-and-mortar stores and into live streams and other online locations. But if 2020 was a year for agility, guess vice president asian markets josé blanco says 2021 is all about resilience. For the fashion icon, that means bridging two worlds.

- Michael Wayne

NAME: José Blanco

COMPANY: GUESS

POSITION: Vice President Asian Markets

LOCATION: Shanghai, China

For a brief window of time during worldwide lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the world gave up on fashion. As homes became workplaces, pyjamas became uniforms; meanwhile, the fate of the last vestiges of bricks-and-mortar stores seemed sealed. In response, the big international names of the fashion world rushed to adapt, amping up their digital presence and strategically limiting physical shopping options around the availability of customers.

With people spending more time online than ever thanks to social restrictions, the digital avenue became the way to reach potential customers. Although the daily conundrum of what to wear was no longer an issue for most of the world, a change as simple as a new pair of jeans was just as good as a holiday. Influencers unable to travel switched to showcasing fashion as high-end as the destinations they’d once graced. Almost overnight, the retail fashion landscape changed.