Coronavirus is causing a shortage of wedding dresses just before the peak season, a Labour MP warned.
Chris Bryant said many dresses sold in Britain come from China and bridal stores ‘have found it really difficult because the factories have been closed’.
He called on the Government to make sure there is financial support offered to struggling retailers, warning: ‘There is a real danger to many of these businesses that they are going to suffer enormous financial loss.’
Far-East fashion suppliers are among the imports that are being threatened by the disease.
It comes as electronics manufacturer MTA was forced to close its main Italian plant due to coronavirus quarantine issues with one chairperson saying it would be a ‘disaster for the supply chain’.
Production lines at Fiat Chrysler have also been bought to a standstill, with Renault, Peugeot, BMW also been forced to close.
Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW rely heavily on parts made in China and said the full impact of the virus on their supply chains is not yet fully known.
Many dresses sold in Britain come from China and bridal stores ‘have found it really difficult because the factories have been closed’ (stock image of woman in a dress shop)
Overview of a production line at German car maker Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Mr Bryant had raised the ‘much broader point’ that so many things are made in China, adding: ‘This is true of drugs and pharmaceuticals and right across the board, especially clothing.’
Mr Hancock said he was working with the Treasury on a ‘response to supply chain problems’.
The whole industry is ‘suffering’, according to one retailer, as the production of wholesale bridal gowns relies heavily on Chinese suppliers.
An extended Lunar New Year break in a bid to curb the virus spreading saw factories closed for a prolonged period.
Chris Bryant said many dresses sold in Britain come from China and bridal stores ‘have found it really difficult because the factories have been closed’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Mr Bryant had raised the ‘much broader point’ that so many things are made in China
Although many employees returned to work earlier this month, shutdowns at lace mills and other fabric suppliers could also prompt a setback in production at factories in China.
James Waddington, of bridal dress manufacturer Romantica of Devon, told the PA news agency that the average wedding dress has a 16-week lead time.
‘Most of them are not made to measure, but that dress is made specifically in that size, colour and length, for a specific bride, and that’s the way the wholesale market operates,’ he said.
‘That means it’s virtually impossible to bulk on stock, because nobody really has stock.
‘I’ve got about a thousand dresses in my warehouse, which might sound like a lot, but I’ve got 250,000 iterations of my product.
‘So the chance of me being able to fulfil just one dress from my stock is pretty unlikely.
‘If the Chinese government closes the factories down, if the factories don’t get to reopen, what happens to our production?
‘The problem is that our factory buys their lace from lace mills. My factory might guarantee me that it’s going to reopen, but what happens if the lace mill doesn’t reopen?’
He said the company had begun to ship half-finished dresses to the UK for them to be completed at local factories, due to potential for a lack of materials in China.
‘A lot of people order their wedding dress a year before the wedding. So those are orders that I can push back,’ he added.
One manufacturer said that misinformation around the spread of the virus, known as Covid-19, had left retailers asking if staff or brides could catch the virus from the dress.
‘The level of hysteria is agony,’ the manufacturer said.
‘I’ve had at least five bridal shops ring me up in the last month asking me if they should be wiping down the dresses in case they’ve got coronavirus on them.’
The British Bridal Suppliers Association, which represents the interests of bridal manufacturers and suppliers in the UK and Ireland, acknowledged that the coronavirus outbreak was causing concern to retailers.
It said on its website that many brands had revised their standard delivery times to avoid disappointment for brides.