How the biggest names in fashion are helping fight coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to a standstill, with millions of people around the globe not only fighting the disease, fighting for their lives and also the prospect of losing their jobs.
Entire industries have stopped production, with approximately one-third of the Earth’s population ordered to stay at home!
With factories closed and production lines stopped, the fashion world is feeling the effects as much as any other industry.
Fortunately, many of the big players in the industry are putting their money where their mouth is and stepping up to help fight this relentless Coronavirus.
Ralph Lauren
The biggest donation by a fashion brand so far has come from American icon Ralph Lauren.
The brand pledged $10 million to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the Emergency Assistance Foundation, and its Pink Pony Fund, which supports a network of international cancer institutions.
As well as donating cold hard cash, the firm will also go into production on a quarter of a million face masks and 25 thousand isolation gowns for health care workers.
On top of that, the company is giving an inaugural gift to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund to help other fashion designers hit impacted by the pandemic.
“We believe that no matter who you are or where you are from, we are all connected,” said Ralph Lauren in a statement. “That is why we are taking significant action to help our teams and communities through this crisis.”
Gucci
One of the hardest hit regions in the world is Northern Italy, where the virus has taken thousands of lives and infected millions of their population.
Based in that very area, Gucci have said they will make over one million face masks to help during the country’s shortage of medical supplies, as well as 55 thousand pairs of hospital gowns, on approval from Italian medical authorities.
The Italian giants have also donated one million euros to the National Protezione Civile Department through a crowd-funding platform to help as many as they can throughout the country.
Prada
Prada S.p.A have helped by donating 6 intensive care and resuscitation units to Milan’s three major hospitals.
On top of that, the Italian company has also reconfigured its factory in Perugia to produce 110,000 masks and 80,000 medical garments that will be delivered to Tuscan hospitals on 6th of April.
Armani
Armani have done their part by announcing that all their production factories in Italy will now be used to make hospital gowns for medical workers.
In addition, the fashion house has also donated 2 million Euros to Italian hospitals to help them face the virus emergency.
Christian Siriano
In the United States, doctors and medical staff are running out of face masks. In New York, fashion designer Christian Siriano answered the Governor’s call for help by having his employees make them from home.
“Our sewers are sitting at home. They want to do something. They want to help,” Siriano said. “We’re up to making a couple of thousand per day now.”
“Even if we can help two thousand people, well, that’s two thousand more than we did before.”
And it’s not just the big boys helping out
Armani, Gucci, Prada, these giants of the fashion industry, are all helping in a big way.
And the smaller brands are also doing their part in this pandemic, with Kiwi-founded company Allbirds giving back to Healthcare workers.
The shoemakers announced on their Instagram that they would gift their signature Wool Runners to medical professionals working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic and inviting them to get in touch.
In this together
The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest thing to happen since the Second World War.
Its unprecedented challenges are being met by brave men and women around the world, with the World Health Organization (WHO) leading and co-ordinating the global effort.
The WHO is supporting countries to help prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic, but they need your help.
Anyone can support the World Health Organisation directly by donating to the COVID-Solidarity Response Fund for WHO.
Donations will help to track and understand the spread of the virus, ensure patients get the care they need, frontline workers get essential supplies and information, and help to accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments.
If you’re a small business in the fashion or apparel industry, then this doesn’t necessarily mean the end.
Contact us today if you would like to share experiences of how we can together navigate through this turmoil.