Insiders On Covid-19 (Part IV)

Elina Grothén, Fashion Editor at ELLE Sweden

How are you coping during these challenging times?

I am well - healthy and at home in Stockholm. But, I am finding it difficult to understand what we are going through. I try to keep sane with daily long walks and a morning meditation. I am taking it day by day and some days are, for sure, harder than others!

Sweden has a different strategy and approach to the pandemic compared to most other countries. Even though, it is nice to have the freedom that we have, which comes with a level of responsibility, it is hard not to see any progress. We don’t know whether we are waiting for the situation to get better or worse? Hopefully better!

How has the coronavirus influenced your work?

I have been working from home since I came back from Milan Fashion Week on February 23rd, which feels and has been an eternity since. But, work-wise nothing has changed. We work as usual, but from home, which is such an incredible luxury right now. I miss the social aspect of the job, but I have become very good at digital meetings.

Many industries are heavily affected by the coronavirus. How do you think it will affect fashion publishing?

Yes, it is already affecting many aspects of the industry: reduced advertising revenues and reduced sales numbers, since train stations and airports have been shut down. And, from the content point of view, we get fewer news and releases.

Editorials can no longer be produced in the same way. The result of this has instead been an increase in home photoshoot-editorials – I-D and Vogue Italia were quick to produce this type of content early on - and many high-street chains and others within the industry have done the same. The classic way of producing editorials will probably not be the same post Covid-19. Of course, there are many other creative things happening that will have either positive or negative effects, not only on fashion publishing, but on the entire fashion industry. It’s both an exciting and cloudy future we have ahead of us.

Find Elina here.