Menswear designer Billy Reid: 'We're bullish' on the return of physical retail

The pandemic has been hard on fashion brands -- but especially for Billy Reid, which hosts an annual arts festival in its hometown of Florence, Alabama that has become part of its identity. "I can't tell you how many texts I get per week from friends, going, 'What's up with Shindig this year?' And you have to let them down easy," Reid said on the Glossy Podcast. The menswear-first company is looking forward to doubling-down on the event next year, and Reid said he's just glad to see it surviving the economic downturn. Personnel cutbacks have leveled off, he said, and all of the company's 14 stores have opened, though traffic is down. "We believe that, eventually, it will come back," Reid said. "We're bullish on it." Womenswear makes up 20-25% of Billy Reid's sales and is only carried in its own stores.