Since we have transcended into this new normal, I haven???t had so much thinking to do, every thought has ended in some sort of brick. To help myself mentally, I stayed away from social media for about a month and upon logging back in, I stumbled on a page that got me thinking in so many directions.

We have all been concerned as to how this whole situation would affect different industries, individuals are coming up with creative measures to keep their market afloat and as difficult as it may sound, there is a shift in the market, a shift in demand and as one door is closing for some, a huge door is opening for others.

The fashion and modelling industry are my current areas of focus. Just three weeks ago, luxury fashion design brand, Hanifa, took the social media sphere by storm with the debut of its fashion collection ???Pink Label Congo??? using 3D models. This move was globally celebrated and has pushed the label and its idea to top tier in the fashion industry. Although the use of virtual reality has been adopted by several other fashion events prior to Hanifa???s release, the Pink Label Congo debut was pivotal.

Since the Hanifa debut, a number of design brands have started thinking towards this progressive form of fashion, illustrators have started practising and broadening their skills. Nigerian Fashion Illustrator, Jessica James, is an example of people taking advantage of this new market.

According to a Forbes article, before the pandemic, the fashion industry was already facing a shift as the ???fashion system no longer exists???. It goes further to explain that in order for the industry to evolve, it had started paying attention to the ???internet for creative and business possibilities from developing innovative e-commerce solutions to investing in virtual influencers??? and with the pandemic, there has been an increased urge to ???eliminate textile waste and focus on sustainability???.

What this translates to is other fashion labels are beginning to think in this line and see how to make their brands more sustainable. The pandemic has created an opening in the fashion industry for Illustrators, which is great but what happens to models?