Given the industry is built on globalisation, the movement of people, things, and ideas is fundamental to maintaining today’s fashion landscape. The past two months, however, have seen this structure ripped from underneath the industry’s feet, as the world has gradually entered a near-total lockdown as a result of coronavirus.
The global pandemic is having unprecedented effects on everyone, and the fashion industry is no different. From student designers who are seeing their graduate shows cancelled, to retailers forced to close their shops; luxury brands calling off their blockbuster presentations to garment makers seeing their income taken away and factory workers having to carry out their jobs in unsafe conditions, the current situation has impacted everyone in the industry on a multitude of levels.
Though things continue to shift and shake on a daily basis, through all this the fashion world has stepped up to provide as much help as it can during this outbreak. It has transformed its factories into production facilities to create necessary items such as facemasks, it has donated money, and has put forward a number of online initiatives to help keep spirits up during isolation, and in the process, it has proven itself to be an essential player in the fight against coronavirus.
With developing news about what is going on coming in thick and fast, understandably, it's pretty hard to keep up with everything. With that in mind, we have created an at-a-glance list detailing events happening in the industry, who's doing what, and how it continues to help in the fight against coronavirus, which we will continue to update from here on out.
WHAT FASHION IS DOING TO HELP
Burberry is funding the vaccine research currently happening at Oxford University. The British luxury label has also converted its Yorkshire factory into a facility to make surgical masks, as well as non-surgical gowns and masks.
Chanel has announced its plan to start making masks, once given the greenlight by the French government. The French label has also donated €1.2 million to an emergency fund for the public hospital system in France, and has guaranteed it will be paying its workers eight weeks worth of salaries.
Bootleg label Sports Banger is dropping weekly batches of its Nike x NHS mash-up t-shirts, with the entirety of the profits ploughed into providing meals for NHS workers at four London hospitals.
Michael Kors, Versace, and Jimmy Choo have pledged to donate a total of $3 million towards coronavirus efforts being made around the world.
In Ukraine, stylist Nadiia Shapoval reached out to the fashion community to help create equipment after a nurse was fired for refusing to enter a hospital room with a patient who had coronavirus, without being given the necessary protective clothing. Now, a team is producing 7,000 suits, with 200-300 disposable suits being made per-day.
Students on the Fashion and Textiles course at Central Saint Martins are helping to create non-surgical scrubs for NHS staff. The patterns will be available for anyone to download through the CSM website imminently.
Hermès pledged to donate €20 million to public hospitals in Paris. The house also revealed it will maintain its basic salary for its employees.
Mayhoola, the parent company of Balmain, will donate €1 million to the French charity La Fondation Hôpitaux de Paris - Hôpitaux de France. Supporting the Montfermeil and Delafontaine hospitals, each hospital will receive €400,000 to procure equipment and will also receive €100,000 to support the health and well-being of medical staff.
Dilara Findikoglu will be donating a percentage of the money made from the sales of her SS20 collection to the Artists and Freelancers Hardship Fund. She has also announced an upcoming series of online projects with a number of photographers.
JW Anderson will be donating 10 per cent of proceeds made from all of its online sales to akt, a charity supporting LGBTQ+ young people living in precarious conditions in the UK.
Nike is working closely with the Oregon Health & Science University to produce face shields for medical personnel.
Louis Vuitton has repurposed its French workshops to make non-surgical face masks. With hundreds of artisans from the luxury label volunteering, the initiative hopes to battle COVID-19 and protect frontline health workers.
Christopher Kane is giving away free craft packs to make your own face masks from, in a bid to ensure people are not taking away supplies from medical personnel who desperately need them. Each pack is set to be made up using past-season fabrics. Email art.dept@christopherkane.com with your full name and UK postal address to receive one.
London-based designers Phoebe English, Holly Fulton, Bethany Williams and Cozette McCreery have formed the Emergency Designer Network, a group working with an ever-increasing number of small-scale UK manufacturers and designers to create much needed garments for medical workers fighting back against COVID-19. As well as calling on skilled sewers, sample machinists, and anyone who has a background in the garment industry to lend their time and effort to the initiative (get in touch here), the EDN is also welcoming donations large and small to help fund the purchase of materials. Visit their GoFundMe here.
Loewe is set to donate 100,000 surgical masks to the Spanish Red Cross, in addition to making non-surgical masks for volunteer workers and Loewe employees and their families. The luxury house also plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from its upcoming capsule collection to educational projects, starting with an initial gift of €500,000.
Bottega Veneta has announced it will provide funding for a number of scholarships to support the advancement of coronavirus-related research in Italy. With money also going to help medical professionals, Daniel Lee, the Creative Director of Bottega Veneta, said: “With these scholarships, we are able to contribute to securing the future of our global health by supporting their admirable and courageous work.”
Mulberry is producing re-usable PPE gowns in its Somerset factories for the University of Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. Hoping to produce over 8,000 gowns, elsewhere the label has raised over £75,000 through its Coronavirus Appeal, made in support of the National Emergencies Trust.
Gucci and Kering Foundation’s Chime For Change initiative has launched #StandWithWomen – a new campaign aimed at raising awareness and funds for non-profit organisations supporting women around the world. Announced by Chime For Change co-founder Salma Hayek, the project is a response to news that gender-based violence and domestic abuse levels have skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic.
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