Emerging new clothing concept: work from home clothing concept in Sri Lankan fashion market in the covid pandemic

Abstract

Fashion evolves according to different concepts. New concepts emerged in the face of crises in society at different times. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the conflict between health and economic outcome that led people of the world to self-isolation, and lockdown. In this situation, thousands of employees around the world, compelled to work from home, irrevocably began to perform their duties from home. Fashion businesses have been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic. Short-term difficulties confront many segments in the clothing industry. COVID-19 has presented the fashion industry with a new set of challenges and a slew of new consumer behaviors and tastes that will remain. As a result, the world has ground to a halt, and firms have been forced to adapt to remote employment. Working from home for most employees is a completely new experience. This resulted in people's reactions ranging from ecstatic to despondent. New fashion trends -loungewear and "zoom dressing" have emerged. Fashion clothing brands were quick to introduce designs to the market in line with this new social situation. A number of suitable garments have been introduced in the market to suit the work-from-home concept (WFH). Famous fashion brands in Sri Lanka have also come up with a number of fashions in line with this new trend. Social media is promoting these new fashion trends. Stay-at-home instructions, and drastic fluctuations in demand for certain product categories, disturbed customers' usual shopping habits and forced them to purchase in new ways. This study aims to examine Sri Lankan fashion brands catering to the “Work-from-Home” concept by visual analysis identifying its special features posted on social media. The research adopted qualitative methods and follows an inductive method to sort and interpret data. The study explores to understand the characteristics of WFH clothing which enables it to identify the design authenticity.