Branch closures, bankruptcies, restructurings – the fashion industry has sometimes found itself in a huge downward spiral. Klaus Buchroithner from Eferding, the founder of the sustainable fashion brand Vresh, is certain that some brands have been struggling with a problem for a long time.
The lockdowns during the Corona period gave wings to web shops, and even now physical retail does not seem to be fully recovering: there is a crisis in the textile world in particular, well-known brands such as Esprit and Gerry Weber have gone bankrupt.
“The situation is not as dramatic as is often presented”
“Due to the Corona financing, many topics that already existed in retail have been postponed and hidden,” says Klaus Buchroithner, founder of the fashion brand Vresh. For Eferdinger, however, the situation is “not as dramatic as is often presented”: “I see more of a regional shift. A PlusCity is always quite full, but the country road in Linz is very much affected.”
What does it take to be economically successful as a fashion brand today? “A clear positioning,” he answers. And adds: “You often don’t know what the brands stand for anymore.”
Customers are currently either opting for super-fast fashion, such as Shein or Temu, or they want sustainable clothing. Vresh stands for fairly produced fashion from the EU. The fact that the people from Linz, who mainly sell online, are accessible is well received, says director Michaela Geiseder: “We answer every customer question.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
