The Fashion Industry During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of the Appropriation of Medical Mask

Abstract

This paper presents the fashion industry, focusing on its adaptation and reconfiguration as a social, cultural, and artistic expression during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began and spread throughout the world in 2019. In its multidisciplinary essence and from various perspectives, fashion promotes creativity through a language rich in significations with new forms of communication and connectivity, reflected in design, advertising and marketing. The goals of this research are, first, to identify the various strategies used in the sector’s adaptation to the community in the face of a public health crisis; second, to analyse and recognise the impact that the appropriation of the medical mask as an object has had on fashion in the context of the pandemic; third, to identify the different types of mask production after their appropriation by fashion; and, finally, to recognise the symbolic status that the mask object acquires after its appropriation and re-signification by fashion. For this analysis, a qualitative approach is used, combined with a review of scientific papers, market reports and published interviews with professionals in fashion industry. This study aims to contribute to the presentation and explanation of communication strategies in fashion, highlighting its capacity for adaptability. Similarly, the research enhances the processes of fashion semiotics, proposing a categorisation of different types of productions, and the symbolic statuses that the mask-object acquires.