ENGLAND - Huge queues of shoppers outside Primark fast fashion stores, as 'non-essential' shops reopened for business in England, and rising retail sales in the US, raise fears that hopes for a post-pandemic reset in the industry may be overly ambitious.
Surprise new figures from the US show that retail sales increased a record 17.7 per cent month-on-month in May, though total spending remained below pre-coronavirus levels following the largest monthly drop on record in April.
Orsola de Castro, founder and creative director of the Fashion Revolution non-profit, says she was far from surprised by the scenes in England which included shoppers queuing overnight in some cities, such as Birmingham, ahead of the reopening of Primark stores.
