Fashion and beauty brands across the world are no longer churning covetable garb or perfume from their factories, as they join the fight against coronavirus.
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The likes of industry heavyweights, Prada, Gucci and Balenciaga, have demonstrated their skillset by swapping coats and handbags for surgical face masks and other medical equipment.
Meanwhile, beauty giants including Dior Perfumes and Guerlain have converted several of their factories to produce much-needed hand sanitiser.
Below, we’ve rounded up the companies dedicated to joining the fight against COVID-19.
Chanel
Chanel has announced it will launch production of face masks to help bolster supplies in France, as the coronavirus sweeps across the country. Prototypes were being worked on and would roll off production lines once they received the approval of French authorities.
“Today we are mobilizing our workforce and our partners…to produce protective masks and blouses,” Chanel said in a statement.
Prada
The Italian fashion empire is the latest recruit in the fight against coronavirus, as Prada has pledged to produce 80,000 medical overalls and 110,000 face masks by April 6.
The essential items are currently being pumped out in the Montone-based factory which has stayed open strictly to help in the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s not the first time the company has helped national efforts, as Prada has already donated medical equipment to a number of the capital’s largest hospitals.
Kering
Fashion giant Kering, which looks after Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, has also turned its attention to coronavirus by agreeing to make more than one million face masks and 55,000 medical overalls.
So far, Kering has made donations to hospitals located in Lombardy, Tuscany, Lazio and Veneto.
In addition to this, Gucci CEO, Marco Bizzarri, has made a personal donation of $100,000 to hospitals across Italy.
LVMH
Over in France, LVMH, home to the likes of Guerlain, Dior Perfumes and Givenchy Beauty, is covering bases when it comes to the production of hand sanitiser.
Due to the shortage of hydro alcoholic gel sweeping the nation, the business has delivered sanitiser free of charge every day to neighbouring health authorities.
“Given the risk of a shortage of hydroalcoholic gel in France, Bernard Arnault instructed the LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics business to manufacture within their production sites as much gel as needed to support the public authorities,” LVMH announced on Instagram.
“The LVMH Group would like to express a special THANK YOU to all those who made it possible, in particular to our exceptional production teams from @guerlain, @diorparfums and @givenchybeauty who have shown great solidarity and engagement in a spirit of collective effort for the common good.”
Inditex
The Spanish parent company responsible for our Zara addiction has also turned its attention to helping the cause after temporarily closing its doors in 13 countries.
In response to the growing need for masks and medical garb, the company has pledged to donate 30,000 surgical masks in the coming week.
Inditex is also in the process of “investigating the possibility of switching some of our textile-manufacturing capacity over to the production of health materials, involving Inditex’s manufacturing experts to that end.”
Christian Siriano
American fashion designer Christian Siriano has asked his team to put their design skills to the test, as they are now working day and night to produce face masks.
The medical essentials have been worn by staff at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
“I think the masks that we are making are actually an upgrade from what they even have. It’s washable, bleachable – that was really important that they could re-wear it,” he told Good Morning America.
He added, “Even if we help 100 people, that’s more people than nothing.”
Versace
Donatella Versace has donated more than $200,000 to the intensive care unit at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy.
“This is when we, as a society, need to need to stand together and care for one another,” she wrote on Instagram.
Giorgio Armani
The Armani Group announces that all of its Italian production plants have now switched to manufacturing single-use medical overalls, to be used for the individual protection of healthcare workers engaged in the fight against the Coronavirus disease.
Following his initial donation to National Civil Protection Department and the Luigi Sacco, San Raffaele, Istituto dei Tumori hospitals in Milan and Istituto Spallanzani in Rome, in recent weeks Giorgio Armani has also contributed to hospitals in Bergamo, Piacenza and Versilia in the Tuscany region, for a total donation of 2 million euros.
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren announced the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation will be donating $10 million towards coronavirus relief efforts.
“Now more than ever, supporting each other in this time of need has become our mission,” an official statement from the Ralph Lauren brand stated. “As we face this global challenge together, the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation is committing $10 million to help our teams and communities around the world.”
Bvlgari
One month after donating to the research department at the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome, Bvlgari has announced another important contribution to the fight against COVID-19. Together with its historical fragrance partner, ICR (Industrie Cosmetiche Riunite), Bvlgari will begin to produce thousands of hand sanitiser bottles to be supplied as a priority to all medical facilities through the Italian Government.
“I believe as a major economic actor and symbol of Italy, Bvlgari has a responsibility to contribute to the national effort to help prevent, fight and eradicate COVID-19. Thanks to our fragrance expertise, we have been able to develop together with ICR a “hand cleansing gel with sanitiser” which will be manufactured in our Lodi factory already making our high-end perfumes and hotel amenities… [We] believe it is our duty to contribute with our know-how and production facilities,” says Bvlgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin.
Capri Holdings
Capri Holdings, which boasts a list of brands that include Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors has announced that they will be donating upwards of $3 million USD to support those impacted by the virus. “Our hearts and souls go out to those who are working on the front lines to help the world combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” says chairman and chief executive John D. Idol.
Michael Kors will divide a total donation of $2 million USD – $1 million from the company and a personal donation of $1 million from Kors himself between three New-York based organisations.
In addition to Versace’s earlier donation of $1 million USD to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation in February, they will donate an additional $400,000 to Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital and $100,000 to the Camera Della Moda to supply ventilators and medical equipment to Italian hospitals.
Further, Jimmy Choo will donate $250,000 to the NHS and to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
MAC
Global beauty giant MAC has had a long history of supporting humanitarian causes through sales of MAC Viva Glam Lipsticks. Now, MAC is turning their attention to COVID-19 relief efforts and have pledged 10 million USD to organisations helping the fight against coronavirus.
Fashion and beauty brands across the world are no longer churning covetable garb or perfume from their factories, as they join the fight against coronavirus.
WATCH BELOW: Ellen Degeneres Asks For Jennifer Aniston’s Top Self-Isolation Tips
Fashion and beauty brands across the world are no longer churning covetable garb or perfume from their factories, as they join the fight against coronavirus.
WATCH BELOW: Ellen Degeneres Asks For Jennifer Aniston’s Top Self-Isolation Tips
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