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How fashion is changing during coronavirus pandemic

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Stay-at-home regulations have been a roadblock for the fashion industry. Instead of high-budget photoshoots, fashion editors and stylists are faced with the necessity to think of creative alternatives as they prepare for their summer issues.

Recently, supermodel Bella Hadid did a photoshoot over FaceTime with Vogue Italia for its April Issue. Vogue Italia explained on its Instagram how photographer Brianna Capozzi conducted the photoshoot through a mobile screen.

Capozzi collaborated with Hadid's stylist Haley Wollens and tested out poses the day before. Hadid did her own makeup and hair and was assisted by her friend Lauren Perez who helped her with lighting. Capozzi elaborated on how the circumstances offered a few laughs and made the process amusing.

"When we actually started shooting, it was quite funny. I would call (Hadid) back from my computer, because the quality is better with two people. Haley would then call Lauren's phone and they would put Haley and I side by side so that we could both see a similar frame," Capozzi said to Vogue Italia.

For many of the shots, Hadid did a variety of poses in front of the camera. She posed in a leopard bomber jacket, underwear and slipped into gold heels with black socks underneath and blew up a blue balloon. There were also several nude shots, with Hadid covering her private areas with a vase of flowers posing against the white walls of a bedroom.

Other fashion magazines are also following suit with at-home photoshoots, which typically involve a number of people, traveling and other resources to make happen. Subjects for upcoming GQ issues are capturing themselves with instant cameras and iPhones, according to The New York Times.

Aya Kanai, editor of Marie Claire, is considering sending a camera to the husband of the cover star for its September issue. Italian photographer Alessio Albi is also shooting using his laptop webcam and FaceTime, but lamenting the human aspect of the experience.

Vogue Italia decided to have the cover for its April issue be a blank and white page, representing respect, new beginnings and honoring the color of the uniforms healthcare workers wear.

Some magazines say their readers should not expect to see content related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) until June. But, some editors were able to squeeze in last-minute mentions of the pandemic. Editor in Chief of InStyle Magazine Laura Brown decided to publish an issue online and had her team produce a digital cover of an infectious disease diagnostics specialist. Vogue Portugal published a cover of a man and women kissing through their face masks for its April issue, with the caption "Freedom on Hold."

This time is pushing fashion editors to work with what they have and produce original ideas in the wake of a highly conflicting time. Some magazines are straying away from fashion and featuring doctors and nurses on their front pages, including Vanity Fair Italia.

Many aspects of photoshoots, including jet set travel and sending out samples of clothing to editors, is now canceled. The COVID-19 crisis is calling into question previous environmental concerns about fashion shoots and pushing for remote collaborations. But, the biggest magazine publishing companies, Hearst and Condé Nast, which manage Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair, Allure and a few others don't intend on suspending issues anytime soon.

The coming months will reveal how the highly global fashion industry will innovate during this time and use the advances of technology we have today to produce content and conduct photoshoots. Expect there to be a shift in what covers are going to look like now, to models photographing themselves in their own homes than at an exotic beach and for magazines to spotlight the heroes of this time.


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