Production and shipping delays from China due to coronavirus are taking a tulle on the wedding gown industry.
The big picture: 2.2+ million brides bought wedding gowns last year. That number’s bound to decline in 2020, since most wedding gown factories have been offline during the COVID-19 outbreak. Shipping delays could last weeks.
- Almost 80% of wedding dresses globally are produced in one southeastern Chinese city.
- Even dresses produced outside of China could be delayed, because brands with factories in other countries still source materials there.
With overseas supply chains beyond their control, bridal brands are reassuring customers with existing stock and refunds. David’s Bridal, which claims 25% of the U.S. wedding dress market, says its U.S. warehouses and stores have plentiful stock. Anomalie, a D2C bridal atelier, says it’ll refund customers for 1.5x the price of their gown if it arrives late.
As for the long term? Brands that were already thinking of moving their supply chains out of China during the trade war found another reason to relocate.
Those efforts may be for nothing. With gatherings of 10+ strongly discouraged for the next several weeks, many 2020 weddings are already canceled or postponed.
