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THE RETAILER Andy Collins Indigo & Cloth THE EDUC
ATOR Anne Melinn Limerick School of Art & Design For Andy Collins, the owner of Indigo and Cloth, in Temple Bar, survival as an independent has meant an increasing reliance on online and their café and lifestyle and homeware offerings. “We’ve had a big increase in online trade for people brewing coffee at home,” he says. “We’re making the most out of the spike in online sales, with the café launching a subscription service at the end of the month.” Inevitably, their menswear has taken a hit. “With no real purpose for people to be shopping… we’re highly stocked in shirts, suiting and other smart casual pieces, meaning it’s been tougher to promote while people are at home staying comfortable in sweats etc. That type of problem really highlights the issue with our industry in general. The traditional, fashion-focused buying system places a commitment on orders six to seven months in advance, meaning it’s trickier to be agile and change stock in response to demand. Ideally, once lockdown procedures took hold, we would have changed around lot of stock and categories to suit people better.” They now boast the largest selection of Aesop, the skincare specialist brand, which has facilitated them attracting new custom. “If anything, the lockdown has brought us so much closer to our community and those who support us,” says Collins. “From communicating through our social channels and even through some of our own campaigns (Brew At Home Series, Community Series) we were able to reach out to our customers, both new and old. From hand-written messages with online orders, to editorials focusing on the people who we usually see regularly, we’ve engaged with our community more than ever. It showcases what makes us unique - our location and the people we encounter on a daily basis.” In terms of the future and adapting to the new normal, Collins is “quite optimistic” that their championing of slow fashion and investment-worthy products and brands, provides them with “a great opportunity to showcase transparently what we do and why we do it.” indigoandcloth.com When the lockdown occurred, colleges had to abruptly close too, leaving students uncertain as to how their last semester was going to pan out. As the head of the Fashion Department in the Limerick School of Art and Design, Anne Melinn has embraced the moment as a “motivator for change”. “If I’m being perfectly honest, I find it very exciting. It is a challenge that had to happen and we are well placed from a technology point of view. We are all up-skilling which is a bit mind-blowing but thrilling too.” “It is all about technology, sustainability and eliminating waste. We will be looking at blended learning upon return with students on campus three days a week,” says Melinn adhering to the old adage about necessity being the mother of invention. She cites Julie Wainwright, e-commerce entrepreneur and founder of The RealReal which is an online e-commerce portal for pre-owned luxury and high-end designer goods that customers can trust as well as Another Tomorrow, a platform for a technology-based circular economy built on modern business principles of community, transparency, and organic scarcity. “The new reality is that job opportunities in fashion are much broader now. Everything we do and teach is based around collaboration whether that is with our print and graphic design departments. Over the past three years we have commissioned a film with stylist Kieran Kilgannon (a regular contributor to this magazine) so our graduates have an online presence. They are absolutely disappointed about not having the static show but we will do one when allowed. This also has given them more time to select, edit and reassess their work.” lit.ie/lsad THE MAKE-UP ARTIST Sian FitzGerald “Lockdown unfortunately made me unemployed, like so many others,” says Sian FitzGerald, a make-up artist whose work has appeared on these pages. “I am lucky that I live with my family so rent wasn’t an issue for me. The biggest impact on my life was taking such an abrupt and long break from my work, but it made me appreciate my job all the more. I thrive on collaborative creative projects, so being isolated stifled any work ethic.” Admittedly, she finds the return to work “a little bit daunting” given that an integral part of her work involves “touching people’s faces.” In preparation for this, she has been doing online courses provided by specialist sanitation brands such as Barbicide, as well as looking to the practices of makeup artists who have already returned to work in America. “Amazing work is being done by some key makeup artists who are contacting microbiologists so as to provide us with the best possible knowledge. For the film industry on the other hand, SIPTU has set out their own guidelines and is proposing strict work practices for production companies as well as workers.” Her concerns regard the “possibility of outsourcing makeup because clients and productions will see the new time restrictions, risks and costs as a negative. Models may be asked to do their own makeup, films might use CGI more frequently to create large crowd scenes.” However, she remains “excited to see how we all overcome these new challenges and find creative solutions to make our jobs safe for everyone. I’m excited to get back to work with a renewed appreciation and a fresh outlook.” sianfitzgerald.com 19