In an open letter, luxury retailers have urged the fashion retail sector to rethink attitudes towards seasonality and discounting post COVID-19. The retailers also called on the industry to also consider offering a more balanced flow of deliveries throughout the seasons. The consortium included Selfridges, Liberty London and Harvey Nichols, who urged the sector to delay end-of-season promotions to January for autumn/winter collections and to July for spring/summer.

The consortium agreed the current environment although challenging, presents an opportunity for a fundamental and welcome change that will simplify their businesses, making them more environmentally and socially sustainable and ultimately align them more closely with customers’ needs.

The retailers hope to achieve this by adjusting the seasonality and flow of both women’s wear and menswear goods, starting with the autumn/winter 2020 season. Their other initiatives include reviewing and adapting fashion shows, less fabric and inventory waste and utilising digital showrooms.

Signatories to the letter include: Acne Studios chief executive Mattias Magnusson, Liberty buying director Sarah Coonan, Mytheresa president Michael Kliger, and Brown Thomas fashion director Shelley Corkey, etc.