Fashion isn’t just about clothes. Now, fashion brands are giving back to society by providing donations that help to tackle and combat Covid-19. Here, we show you what these powerhouses are doing to help out.
This Italian fashion label will be dedicating its FW ’20 campaign to the current times of need. Coined as #ValentinoEmpathy, this project will feature an exclusive cast of 21 members, like Anwar Hadid, Liu Wen and Naomi Campbell. These 21 members have raised €1 million (S$1,552,325.26) for the Italian Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital to help fight Covid-19.
Prior to this, Valentino and its shareholder, Mayhoola, have donated €4 million (S$6,209,540) to charity: €2 million (S$3,104,770) to Italian Sacco Hospital and Protezione Civile, €1 million to La Fondation Hopitaux de Paris – Hopitaux de France and the remaining €1 million to the Spanish field hospital within the Madrid exhibition center.
This Italian fashion label will be pumping funds into scientific research. This €300,000 (S$461,572.73) contribution is to provide two-year extensions for three medical experts: an employed pneumology researcher in the Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health of the University of Padua, as well as two with medical scholarships – one at the Virology Laboratory of Lazzaro Spallanzani’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome, and the other at the Microbiology and Virology Laboratory of the Hospital Domenico Cotugno of Naples.
“We recognise that supporting the medical professionals who are saving the lives of others must be our priority during this time, which includes those working tirelessly to tackle the devastating impact of Covid-19 and its enduring effects, through scientific research,” says creative director Daniel Lee. “With these scholarships we are able to contribute to securing the future of our global health by supporting their admirable and courageous work.”
Italian eyewear distribution company Safilo has just launched an initiative to help fight Covid-19. Titled #United4EyeCare, this global corporate initiative, supported by its main brand Carrera, includes repurposing its manufacturing factories in Santa Maria di Sala and Bergamo to produce safety glasses and facial shields for hospitals and healthcare facitilies in Bergamo, Seriate, Padua, Latina and Brescia.
Other brands that under its umbrella are also contributing to help fight this pandemic. This includes Polaroid (which is donating 5,000 surgical masks to 19 Spanish hospitals), Smith (a U.S. eyewear label which recently joined the movement, Googles for Docs, to provide ski googles to healthcare workers) and Blenders Eyewear (which deployed its factories to produce 10,000 safety googles for healthcare workers at hospitals in San Diego and Los Angeles).
This Spanish fashion label has deployed its Getafe factory to produce non-surgical masks for volunteer workers, its employees and their families. Concurrently, they are donating 100,000 surgical masks to the Spanish Red Cross for medical personnels.
Also, Loewe will also be making a contribution of €500,000 (S$773,621.07) to Plataforma de Infancia, a Spanish alliance of social organisations that protects children and adolescents’ rights, to introduce educational programmes in Spain this summer. Additionally, it will contribute €40 (S$61.89) to the organisation for every product sold from its Paula’s Ibiza collection between May to Aug 2020.
Known for its iconic monogram print, this French fashion label is using its ready-to-wear atelier to produce hospital gowns. These gowns will be provided to healthcare workers in six Parisian hospitals under the Assistance Publique – Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP), namely Hopital Antoine-Beclere, Hopital Bicetre, Hopital Paul-Brousse, Hopital Ambroise-Pare, Hopital Raymond-Poincare and Hopital Sainte-Perine.
“We are proud to be able to help healthcare professionals at our level and put our know-how at the disposal of the Hôpitaux de Paris to create gowns for medical staff,” said Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Michael Burke. “I would like to thank the artisans of our atelier who voluntarily participate in this civic act and who have been bravely applying themselves since this morning to equip healthcare workers in hospitals who are in need of gowns.”
This Hong Kong sustainable fashion label is giving back to society during this pandemic. They will be donating 100 per cent of the sales made from their tote bags (priced at $15 each) to two food banks, namely Food From the Heart in Singapore and Food Angel in Hong Kong, that provide food delivery services to the needy.
This international fast fashion label joins in to fight Covid-19 by launching an initiative called Pomelo Cares.
Under this initiative, Pomelo will deploy its design and production lines to produce anti-bacterial masks from fabrics. Each mask will be sold at $9, and 100 per cent of the proceeds will go to two of their partner healthcare organisations, namely Singapore’s Red Cross Society and Thailand’s Red Cross. It will also be donating 40,000 surgical masks to the latter.
Furthermore, Pomelo has also rallied the involvement of its customers. It recently launched a new feature on its online platform, where shoppers can choose to donate funds or surgical masks directly to their partner healthcare organisations, including Ikatan Dokter Indonesia (IDI – Indonesian Medical Association).
On top of that, it has launched a social movement, #PomeloGirlsAtHome, on its Instagram to spread the message on social responsibility.
Carolina Herrera and its parent company, Puig, is supporting the Spanish government in the current Covid-19 crisis by producing more sanitary essentials. It will deploy its clothing factories and production lines to manufacture masks and hospital gowns for personnel working in Spanish hospitals and the F&B industry.
This local e-retailer is giving back to society during this pandemic by opening a donation channel on its platform. This donation drive is in partnership with Singapore Red Cross (SRC).
Proceeds will go to the purchase of customised care packages – which comprise food, medical, hygiene and household items – and psychosocial support calls for senior citizens under SRC’s ElderAid, Medical Chaperone/TransportAid, and Home Monitoring and Eldercare+ services, as well as sanitary essentials for SRC’s volunteers and staff.
The Della Valle Family, founders of this Italian fashion label, has entrusted Protezione Civile, the Italian national body, with €5 million (S$7,738,790.77) to help combat Covid-19. This funding will go to the family members of healthcare personnel who had lost their lives in fighting against the coronavirus.
Gucci will be making two separate donations of €1 million (S$1,579,760) each to crowdfund campaigns in aid of the coronavirus situation. These two campaigns are organised by Italian Civil Protection Department (via Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo’s Forfunding crowdfunding platform) and World Health Organisation (United Nations Foundation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund).
Additionally, this Italian fashion label will be using its social media platforms to rally the importance of heath, safety and well-being. This commenced two days ago (on March 28).
“Gucci has created a world, open and free: a Gucci global community. We ask all of you to be the changemakers in this crisis, to stand together with us in the fight against the coronavirus. We are all in this together,” said creative director Alessandro Michele and CEO Marco Bizzarri.
This Italian fashion powerhouse is helping to fight Covid-19 by producing 80,000 medical overalls and 110,000 masks specially for staff working in the healthcare sector. This production plan, targeted for completion by April 6, also provides daily deliveries of these overalls and masks to hospitals.
This American fashion label will be donating US$1 million (S$1,434,170) to support relief efforts in the US. Furthermore, the brand’s founder, Michael Kors himself, and its parent company’s (Capri Holdings Limited) chairman and CEO, John Idol, will personally fork out an additional US$1 million combined.
The total donation of US$2 million will be donated to five different organisations, namely NYU Langone Health, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, God’s Love We Deliver, A Common Thread and CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund for Covid-19 Relief, to help alleviate difficulties faced during this pandemic.
This Spanish fast fashion label has promised to donate two million face masks to hospitals throughout Spain, under strict compliance with Spanish Ministry of Health guidelines.
Known for its iconic Serpenti collection, this Italian luxury label is helping to combat Covid-19 by making a large donation (amount undisclosed) to the Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital’s research department.
This has enabled the Italian hospital to purchase a new 3D microscope – an optimal tool to effectively study the virus’ molecular structure and evolution as it can “accurately solve microscopic cell structures even on three-dimensional biological samples and follow their growth and interaction with other microorganisms over time”.
“We are honored by the donation of Bvlgari, which will allow us to strengthen research on the developments of Covid-19 in such a delicate moment,” says Marta Branca, general manager of Spallanzani. “I thank, in particular, the CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin, for his commitment and his availability towards the Institute.”
Furthermore, Bvlgari will be manufacturing hand sanitisers with its long-term fragrances partner, ICR (Industrie Cosmetiche Riunite, Lodi), for the next two months. These disinfectants will be distributed to medical companies with the help of the Italian government.
This multinational conglomerate, the parent company of major fashion labels like Celine, Dior and Fendi, recently announced that it will be using its perfumery and cosmetics production factories to produce hand sanitisers.
These gel sanitisers will be given to 39 public hospitals in Paris at no charge.
Apart from the production of disinfectants, Givenchy, a fashion label under LVMH, will continue to pay its freelancers for the next two weeks despite the reduction in work shifts.
This American luxury jeweller has committed to donating US$1 million (S$1,434,170) to help combat Covid-19. The Tiffany & Co. Foundation will allocate US$750,000 to World Health Organisation’s Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund, while the remaining US$250,000 will go to The New York Community Trust’s NYC Covid-19 Response & Impact Fund.
Tiffany & Co. will also match a dollar for every dollar donated by its employees to any non-profit organisations that aid in the relief of Covid-19.
Furthermore, it has also signed the Philanthropy’s Commitment During Covid-19 Pledge, alongside more than 500 other organisations. This pledge guarantees that these organisations will help and support grantees in time of need.
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Famous for its checkered prints and trench coats, this British luxury fashion label is helping to fight Covid-19 by using its supply chain network to track and deliver medical gowns, surgical and non-surgical masks to the UK National Health Service. It’ll be deploying its trench coat factory to manufacture non-surgical gowns and masks for patients, subjected to approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
Also, it’ll be pumping funds (amount undisclosed) into University of Oxford’s research on a single-dose vaccine for Covid-19, which is set to begin human trials next month.
Apart from the healthcare sector, Burberry will be donating (amount undisclosed) to several charities such as Fareshare and The Felix Project to help combat food poverty in the UK. This will include delivering free school meals to impoverished students and increasing the supply of pre-packed food to help food banks better manage with the rising demands.
“The whole team at Burberry is very proud to be able to support those who are working tirelessly to combat Covid-19, whether by treating patients, working to find a vaccine solution or helping provide food supplies to those in need at this time,” says Marco Gobbetti, CEO of Burberry. “Covid-19 has fundamentally changed our everyday lives, but we hope that the support we provide will go some way towards saving more lives, bringing the virus under control and helping our world recover from this devastating pandemic.”
Known for its luxury skiwear, Moncler will donate €10 million (S$15,800,644) to aid in the construction of a hospital in Lombardy, Italy. This hospital will house over 400 intensive care units.
“Milan is a city that has given us all an extraordinary time. We cannot and must not abandon it,” says Remo Ruffini, chairman and CEO of Moncler. “It is everyone’s duty to give back to the city what it has given us so far.”
This Italian luxury fashion house is doing its part by making a generous donation (amount undisclosed) to Humanitas University, an Italian private school that specialises in medical science, to study and combat Covid-19.
This study will be led by Prof. Alberto Mantovani and Prof. Cecilia Garlanda, as well as the first two virologists in Italy who successfully isolated the Sars pathogen, Elisa Vicenzi and Massimo Clementi of San Raffaele Vita-Salute University.
Dolce & Gabbana has always been in collaboration with Humanitas University, where the maison supports aspiring medical students with scholarships.
This New York-based fashion maison has organised a charity sale that gives 100 per cent of the revenue to Adream Foundation, a Chinese non-profit organisation that aids in combating inequalities in China’s education sector, during this time of need. All proceeds go towards helping sterilise elementary schools in China.
“We decided to go with a very direct approach: a charity sale via live streaming, since everyone in China was staying at home, and livestreaming has quickly become an important channel of not only retail but also marketing,” Gabby Hirata, DVF’s head of business development for its APAC region, told Jing Daily, a news website that reports on luxury in China. Hirata assumed the position three days before the pandemic hit.
The sale comprises tees, designed by Diane von Furstenberg herself, with a slogan that says “Be Strong Wuhan, With Love From DVF”. The T-shirts are supplied by Shanghai Fairywood, DVF’s long-term Chinese partner.
Chief creative officer of Versace, Donatella Versace, and her daughter, Allegra Versace Beck, will donate €200,000 (S$311,411.90) to San Raffaele hospital’s intensive care department in Milan to aid in combating Covid-19.
“Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this disease and to all the doctors and medical staff who have been working heroically non-stop in the past weeks in the effort to take care of our loved ones,” says Donatella. “This is when we, as a society, need to stand together and care for one another.”
This Italian fashion e-commerce retailer has donated its premier delivery service vehicles to help support socially isolated communities during this pandemic. These vehicles will now serve as transportation for seven local Age UK charities in London.
Its mission is to deliver necessities and essentials to elderly living in these London boroughs: Kensington, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Fulham, East London, Enfield, Camden, West London and Lambeth.
French fashion label Sandro aids in this crisis by deploying its staff to produce mask from leftover fabrics from past collections. These masks are washable and resuable, and approximately 10,000 pieces will be distributed to non-medical staff in the coming days.
Since there’ll be a lack of filtering respirators as it will be prioritised for medical staff and patients, non-medical staff will be affected. This action is to provide a form of protection for affected individuals.
“Today more than ever we have faith in the strength of the collective effort because only together can we overcome this hardship,” says Evelyne Chetrite, Founder and Artistic Director of Sandro. “Every act, every action counts, sometimes even the simplest ones.”
Known for its opulent shoes and bags, Jimmy Choo will be donating a total of US$500,000 (S$715,685) to two separate charities, namely NHS Charities Together (National Health Service Covid-19 Urgent Appeal) and World Health Organisation (Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund). Each organisation will receive US$250,000 (S$357,842.50).
This Italian shoe label has pledged to donate €100,000 (S$154,961.86) to Ospedale Maurizio Bufalini, a hospital in Cesena, Italy, for the purchase of critical materials and essentials to tackle Covid-19.
