Aude Harris Talks Impact with Swimwear Line Due to Covid-19.
My name is Aude Harris. I am the Founder and Creative Director of a black-owned African swimwear line, AudeSwim. I was born in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), West Africa. I came to the states when I was about 7 years old. Upon graduating from Virginia State University with a bachelor's in Marketing, I traveled back home to Africa where I was inspired by the culture, people, and, textiles. My brand started from there and continues to allow me to incorporate my love for traveling, art, fashion, and modeling into one business. It has always been important for me to embrace my heritage in a way that allows me and women across the world to be effortlessly sexy, thus the birth of AudeSwim.
What has been the immediate effect to your business?
The most immediate effects of Covid-19 have been the abrupt drop in sales and our decreased visibility. Being present at various vendor opportunities and fashion events helps us connect with our existing and potential customers. Since so many events have been cancelled/postponed our in-person customer acquisition and retention efforts have been negatively impacted. It also makes it difficult to create new content. Most of our photo shoots are outside, so we’re having to work around that as well. In addition, Stay at Home Orders have been activated, beaches are closed, and travel is limited, so the need for swimwear has significantly decreased.
How do you see peer brands in Miami and other markets being affected?
Miami is a tourist location, so without any tourists, everyone in the area has been feeling the effects. Non-essential businesses in most areas have been temporarily closed so there’s very little business traffic right now. I have seen brands getting creative with social media to reach and engage with customers.
Although not always immediately thought of when it comes to designer brands, swimwear is very popular, profitable & prominent as statement articles of fashion. With the COVID- 19 virus how do you see it affecting business especially with its hit right before summer and prior to swim week 2020?
I see COVID-19 having a negative effect on the entire 2020 swim season. Multiple vacation destinations are closed for business so there will be a lot less travel. Beaches and pools are closed so there’s no need for swimwear. Countless manufacturers are closed making it extremely difficult to obtain new inventory. Attending Miami Swim Week has been a goal of mine since I began Audeswim and this year’s show has been postponed.
Do you think things will go back to normal? And do you think this may inspire “slow fashion” trends more for the future?
We will continue to have faith and hope through this time and pray that everything will go back to normal but there’s no way to know for sure.
Aside from garment sales, have you noticed a change in your advertising with photoshoots or the campaigns you are choosing or having to run in these moments?
Not being able to work outside has made creating new content difficult since all of our photoshoots are done outside at different locations. We are however planning to create more campaigns utilizing indoor studios and props and continue to be creative for our customers.