Fashion Houses and Designers Supporting Coronavirus COVID-19 Efforts
When the novel coronavirus COVID-19 started back in December, much of the world was aware but of course we didn’t pay much attention. Then it began to spread beyond its reported origin location and even in January, as we were all making our resolutions, trying to lose those holiday pounds and get back to our work routines yet pretty much enjoying life, the issue of coronavirus at that time again was the concern of others so to speak. The World Health Organization (WHO), monitoring its spread, provided advisories but stalled in naming it a pandemic. Through that time, the fashion calendar began with Couture in Paris in late January, then all of February was on to New York, London, Milan where some designers like Giorgio Armani hosted an audience free show or some cancelled and Paris for fashion month. At this point the novel coronavirus was given a scientific name as its spread exploded globally, WHO named it a pandemic and here most of us are, self isolating or quarantining to help flatten the curve. Fashion has really taken a hit with many either closing stores and/or halting production. According to a recent MSCI Europe Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods Index, the sector reported a 23% drop and $152 billion in market value erased from the industry from January 17 to March 11. Through this difficult times, some fashion houses and designers have really stepped up to support the efforts in combating the coronavirus epidemic. These are the fashion designers and fashion houses and brands supporting the novel coronavirus COVID-19 efforts through direct financial or product donations.
Giorgio Armani and the Armani Group
In addition to cancelling his Fall/Winter ‘2020 fashion show on on February 23 during Milan fashion Week to guests to prevent the spread, has donated €1.25m (£1.1m) about $1.4 million to three hospitals in Milan and Rome, the Italian civil protection agency coordinating the country’s response to the outbreak and the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Disease i. The Italian fashion house was one of the first to really respond to the crisis in Italy having shuttered all Armani stores and restaurants since March 10.
Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada, co-CEOs and Chairman of thePrada Group S.p.A
Prada Group S.p.A. donated two complete intensive care and resuscitation units each to the Vittore Buzzi, Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals in Milan. The group also announced that starting on March 18, the Prada factory in Montone (Perugia) started the production of 80,000 medical overalls and 110,000 masks to be allocated to healthcare personnel, following a request from the Tuscany Region. The production plan provides for daily deliveries, which will be completed by April 6.
Bernard Arnault CEO/Owner of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SEbegan the company’s donation in China where the virus reportedly originated. In January it pledged 16 million renminbi ($2.2 million) to The Red Cross Society of China followed by announcing it would redirect Perfumes and Cosmetics for brands like Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy to produce large quantities “as much gel as needed” of alcohol-based sanitizers which would be given, free-of-charge, to French healthcare authorities and the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris . The company also announced it will order 40 million face masks from China to help France’s continued fight of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kerby Jean-Raymond and Pyer Moss.
As the case numbers began to rise in the US and the state of New York’s case count rising rapidly, the Pyer Moss founder and fashion house stepped into action announcing he would turn the Pyer Moss office into a donation center for much needed N95 masks and Latex gloves and the company would also set aside $5,000 to acquire some. The prompt was also the fact that Jean-Raymond’s sister, a medical professional, had been exposed to COVID-19, and that her health and that of her elderly patients has been compromised due to a lack of N95 masks. In addition to the donation, they were setting up a $50,000 fund for minority and women owned small creative businesses currently in distress. In a recent update, they’ve collected 7,300 masks and over 1000 units of protective gloves and face protection. The $50,000 fund grew to $100,000 thanks in part to contribution from friend Jen Rubio, co-founder of Away. That fund has alsoredy donated $78,000 to 38 businesses and they are still looking to help those needing the assistance with the funds remaining hoping to make it a more permanent initiative once the crisis has subsided.
Nicola and Paola Bulgari
The Bulgari family who sold a controlling stake of the company to LVMH, donated an undisclosed sum to the research department of Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani, one of the first medical teams to isolate the deadly disease, to purchase a microscopic image acquisition system.
Marco Bizzarri, the President/CEO of Gucci
The President/CEO of Gucci, personally contributed €100,000 to hospitals in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy to efforts fighting the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Chiarra Ferragni
The fashion influencer turned fashion entrepreneur along with husband Italian rocker Fedez have donated €100,000. The donation from the couple also spearheaded an online fundraising initiative that’s so far raised €4,439,400 to creating new hospital beds in the intensive care area of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital.
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Thank you guys and keep donating, link in bio 🙏🏻 Let’s fight this situation with love ❤️
Sophia Webster
The UK footwear and accessories designer of her eponymous named brand, has donated 200 pairs of its FlyBy sneakers also called trainers in the UK to NHS workers on the front line – “hoping to bring a little joy to the selfless medics going through these unprecedented times.”
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SW 💗 NHS #NHS #NHSheroes #lovetheNHS Head to www.SophiaWebster.com for Ts+Cs
Kering
The parent company of Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Yves Said Laurent announced a donation of 7.5 million yuan ($1 million) to the Red Cross Society of China and an undisclosed financial donation to the Pasteur Institute to fund research for COVID-19. Additionally the French company has also made a $2 million donation to Italy and utilizing Balenciaga and Saint Laurent’s France-based resources, to manufacture face masks where it plans to ship 3 million masks from China to France.
Moncler
Led by chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini has donated €10 million ($10.7 million) for the construction of a new hospital in Milan which will house about 400 intensive care units.
Brandon Maxwell
The NYC based fashion house announced it would be putting its team and atelier together in efforts to manufacture PPE starting with gowns the doctors and nurses on the front line of this crisis.
Giuliana, Luciano, and Sabrina Benetton
Members of the famed fashion Benetton family’s investment holding company, Edizione Srl, is donating about $3.2 million (€3 million) to four different hospitals in Milan, Rome and the northeastern Italian city of Treviso to help fight the pandemic that’s gripped the region. The fashion brand also announced it would close all its directly managed shops in Italy for two weeks starting from Thursday in an effort to protect both employees and customers against the spread of the disease.
Sergio Rossi
The Italian based luxury shoe designer is donating $111,396 (€100,000) to the hospital ASST Fatebenefratelli – Sacco in Milan as well as donating 100% proceeds within a period time time from purchases made on its website.
Pronovais Bridal Company
Luxury bridal company based in Barcelona, Spain in efforts to show their support to the heroes on the front line fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, announced its offering wedding dresses to hospital-employed brides-to-be. They can choose any design from the Heroes Collection which will be available until August 31, 2020 at selected flagships.
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Christian Siriano
The American designer, has stepped up and offered his and his team’s services make face masks for medical workers in New York as the city becomes the US epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic and they begin to run low on key medical supplies. Siriano, responding to New York Governor Andre Cuomo’s plea to create masks and donate them to New York hospitals said “ If @NYGovCuomo says we need masks my team will help make some. I have a full sewing team still on staff working from home that can help.”
Donatella Versace and daughter Allegra
Personally, the designers donated €200,000 to the ICU of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital, which has become overwhelmed with patients who are being treated for COVID-19.
Vogue Fashion Fund/CFDA
Though not a fashion brand or house per-se, Vogue magazine has been at the forefront of celebrating fashion from all corners of the globe and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which supports and celebrates American designers. In continuing their long standing partnership and stepping up for fashion in time of crisis, they’ve decided to repurpose and put a philanthropic twist to the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund “in order to provide support for those in the fashion community affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first position of that initiate is the launch f video series called A Common Thread, which will tell stories about how American designers and their workers and colleagues are coping, how businesses have been affected, what we all plan to do to move forward. These stories will go behind the scenes to show everyone who contributes to this creative, vibrant, and incredibly important industry.”
sources: Business Insider; WWD; Vogue
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