Building a fashion tech startup in the times of global crisis caused by Corona Virus Aleksandr Vinogradov Follow Mar 22 · 5 min read

Running a startup is a risky thing to do. Now let’s add corona virus into the picture. I should be freaking out right now! Fashion is a sector that is highly vulnerable to any sort of crisis — it is rooted in societal desire and not necessity, making it an easily collapsable industry in times of economic and global distress. Nevertheless, I am still optimistic about the future. Here’s why.

A little backstory

After quitting my job at Elite Model Management Paris, I started preparing myself to head to New York. It was something I had been planning for a long time now, but it always seemed as though the timing wasn’t right or my money was invested elsewhere — like funneling all my savings into a startup. But why New York? Primarily, because it’s the epicenter of everything: fashion, culture, business, opportunity. The second was merely to be in closer proximity to my clients.

2020, will be amazing they said.

I had a very optimistic outlook for 2020. January, I arrived in New York, yet to realize how bad things were about to get. Who would have known that the year would bring such chaos? Currently, we are seeing companies in a multitude of industries getting hit hard and feeling the financial fallout from this global pandemic. Cutting costs will be inevitable, so who are the most at-risk? Here is an excerpt from the New York Times to shed light on the issue of unemployment and its impact on society.

In Colorado, the number of unemployment benefit claims went from 400 on March 9 to 3,900 on Monday and then 10,000 on Wednesday. In Connecticut, there were 2,500 claims last week, but more than 40,000 from Friday evening until Wednesday evening. The number of requests in Ohio jumped to 78,000 this week from 6,500 two weeks ago.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/business/coronavirus-unemployment-states.html

These are just a few examples, but they paint a picture of our current situation. To find more proof of these hardships, I didn’t need to look much further than my own personal life. My mum owns her own travel agency. But, who is traveling now? No one. I look in the mirror, I see my many months of labor in the gym fading. Gyms are closed. Weekends have become slow and are spent at home. There’s no night life. No restaurants. Businesses are shut down. No casual friend hangouts. And guess what? My flight back home is canceled too. That’s one hell of an impact to our daily lives.

At the same time, digital companies and service that are catered towards people who are working from home will become more important. According to the Financial Times, “Tech companies are still hiring feverishly as they move to take advantage of a world shifting increasingly to digital as a result of the coronavirus, despite mass lay-offs elsewhere and growing concerns over plummeting global markets.”

This situation seems both paralyzing and debilitating, allowing for fear to creep into every facet of our personal lives. However, we are all hopeful that the chaos will subside, and in time life will resume to some form of normalcy. Taking control into our own hands is critical to overcoming that fear. This is particularly true when you own your own digital start up. There are people depending on you, and clients that need you now more than they ever have.

In times where we feel as though there is no control, it almost feels as if we have a big part missing from our daily lives. Someone has to fill in these gaps. It’s amazing to see artists organizing free live streams of their music or gyms giving online sessions. We have all the means to continue our existing lives in a way that accounts for the grim circumstances we are facing.

These “stay-at-home” times open good opportunities to collectively brainstorm and be creative about finding new and innovative ways of doing things digitally.

When it comes to my startup — Beholder.ai, we help modeling agencies automate digital scouting. With quarantines and halts on almost all air travel, modeling agencies have no other choice but to put the most emphasis on digital scouting. It is the time for us to go the extra mile in making the most out of these unfortunate circumstances.

On a daily basis, we are thinking about how we can help our clients find talents to represent without them having to physically leave their home. How can we help people get scouted easily while simultaneously giving them a comprehensive understanding of modeling and the fashion industry? How can we do it remotely?

What we do is just one subsection of one industry. People used to get scouted in person: at concerts, festivals or just on the streets. We are fortunate to live in a time where we are all connected though our digital devices. I strongly believe that out of these tough times, will come fruitful and creative ideas. This historical moment will have every industry rethinking how they do business. Some of these ideas will come to life and open new exciting channels for growth and opportunities. Although we are limited to staying within the confines of our homes, we are also forced to adapt and think of ways that allow us to live our lives fully. Let’s make the most out of it!

Let’s stay optimistic and actionable, because the only people we can rely on to take care of us, is us. So if you can, stay home and be productive. Use this time to gain new skills that will help you come closer to your dreams or further advance your digital projects.

Thank you everyone for reading. I hope this article will bring a bit of hope and encourage you to keep you head up despite the situation in the world. I am sure if everyone gives their input, sooner or later this will be a thing of the past.

Stay safe

Aleksandr Vinogradov aka Alex Grape / Instagram: eyesonaleks

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