Turning face masks into a fashion statement in Africa, the face mask has become a global symbol in the fight against COVID-19. But for fashion designers in Africa, the masks are more than just a protective piece of cloth. Here are some of the best styles from the continent.
Who says face masks have to be bland?
In Africa, fashion designers are injecting some style into masks to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic encouraging mask use while letting people show some individuality.
Here are some face mask collection from Africa fashion designer:
Lagos style Protecting yourself and others Lagos style: Nigerian fashion influencer Angel Obasi showcases her red and white face mask with matching clothes.
Integrating each outfit For designers like Sophie Zinga, photographed here at her workshop in Dakar, the task is clear: “As a fashion designer I think we are going to have to integrate each outfit with fashion masks.”
Luxury items High-end fashion made in Africa: This mask, worn by Nigerian fashion stylist Sefiya Diejomoah, is studded with sparkling diamante jewels. “When you come out in a stylish mask, it doesn’t seem as though we’re fighting a war,” Diejomoah says.
Economic necessity For many fashion designers in Africa, creating protective gear such as mask has been a way to keep business going despite the economic downturn.
Tackling mask shortages in Rwanda Rwanda-based tailor Alexander Nshimiyimana (second from left, above) told DW he has been producing colorful masks like these because of the stock shortages in the country. Nshimiyimana has tried to keep the price of his masks as affordable as possible so that more people can get access to one. His masks sell for around 50 US cents – while those in Rwanda’s pharmacies retail for around US $2.
Stylish masks in Kenya Kenyan fashion designer David Avido (above), founder of the label ‘lookslike avido,’ poses with a mask he made, created from leftover cloth. Since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Kenya in March, ‘lookslike avido’ has so far created and distributed more than 10,000 masks for free to communities in and around the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Cameroon sister designers do their bit Ange Goufack (left) and her sister Edmonde Kennang (right) have been producing these colorful face masks in Cameroon, with added plastic across the eyes. Since April 13, the government there has made it mandatory for people to wear face masks in public to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Donating masks to hospitals in Tunisia When the coronavirus crisis started, Tunisian designer Myriam Riza (above, adjusting a mask at the workshop of her Miss Anais label) was contacted by hospitals suffering from mask shortages. She produces the masks and distributes them to hospitals using donated fabric. To offset the cost of continuing to provide free masks to clinics, Riza decided to create masks for individual paying customers.
Masks with personality in Algeria Mounia Lazali, a designer in Algeria, has sewn and donated hundreds of masks – singer Joe Batoury models one of her designs, above. She told DW people “want to assert their culture and their tastes, so I think that the mask will not escape the fashion effect. If that can encourage people to protect themselves more, art will have succeeded in its mission by entering citizens’ everyday lives.”
Masks for the youngest A boy in Abidjan is wearing a matching hat and mask created by Ivorian fashion designer Arthur Bella N’guessan.
Individual styles For young fashion buffs at University of Lagos like Uche Helen, wearing custom-made masks is a way to stand out.
Splashes of color in Liberia Liberia-based The Bombchel Factory is an ethical fashion company which helps its all-female staff to become self-sufficient by offering them training in making garments. It is turning unsold skirts into bright face masks like this one, above. For every purchased mask, another gets donated to someone unable to quarantine at home – because they don’t have anywhere to stay.
Donating masks Arthur Bella N’guessan also creates custom masks that match his customers’ clothes. His current daily output of masks stands at more than 1,000 a day and he gives many of them away for free.
Classic print In many African countries, wearing a face mask in public has been mandated by the government to fight the spread of COVID-19. Designers and tailors all over the continent have been stepping up to meet the demand.
Bright colours In the Nigerian capital Abuja the rules are simple: the brighter, the better. This woman is showcasing the pink face mask she is wearing with her hijab.
Matching mannequin A mannequin in the workshop of Ivorian designer Arthur Bella N’guessan sporting matching mask and clothing.
Lagos has more than twice the population of New York City and a robust fashion scene, where designers have long harnessed style as a tool for communication.
The city’s runways have promoted recycling, gender equality and traditional African artistry themes meant to nourish the greater good, said Omoyemi Akerele, founder of Lagos Fashion Week. Some fashion houses are consulting doctors, she said, and sourcing fabric for mask production. (The community has also donated soap to garment workers.)
“Fashion is a voice for change,” she said. “It can save lives.”
Many in Nigeria and the United States haven’t grasped the severity of the coronavirus threat. Warnings from celebrities can help. (The U.S. surgeon general urged Kylie Jenner, for instance, to inform her 167 million Instagram followers about the importance of social distancing.)
Dubai Design District (d3) has joined the Arab Fashion Council in a campaign to combat COVID-19, with seven partners poised to create thousands of protection gowns and surgical face masks for frontline medical workers.
The campaign calls on UAE-based fashion designers to use their craftsmanship and haute couture flair to make surgical attire for the UAE’s health care industry, demonstrating the value of fashion and design in Dubai.
d3, Dubai’s heart of creative design, home to more than 9,000 people and 385 companies, has pledged its support to #AThread4Cause a campaign calling on UAE-based fashion designers to use their craftsmanship and haute couture flair to make surgical attire for the UAE’s health care industry.
Seven business partners with more than 50 tailors and pattern makers, will make the medically certified garments. To facilitate logistics, d3 is set to host a unified distribution center, to store and deliver the protection gowns and surgical masks produced by d3 designers as well as other designers based in the UAE.
This will turn the d3 community into a strategic hub for personal protective equipment (PPE) made by luxury brands.
Khadija Al-Bastaki, executive director of d3, said: “As the fashion capital of the Middle East, d3 is both humbled and delighted to support #AThread4Cause. With six d3-based designers, we aim to aid the lifesaving work of vital medical staff by contributing to the UAE’s stockpile of gowns and face masks. d3 is well placed to be able to cater to the needs of the local population, as well as export to the rest of the world, heralded by the strong logistics and infrastructure of Dubai.
This will enable #AThread4Cause to quickly receive the PPE carefully produced by highly skilled, luxury fashion designers across the emirate.”
“The Arab Fashion Council is proud of d3’s remarkable support to #AThread4Cause campaign by joining forces with us and its readiness to strengthen the emergency network of creative force,” said Jacob Abrian, founder and CEO of the Arab Fashion Council.
Michael Cinco’s ‘The Impalpable Dream of SWAN LAKE’ collection is the fulfillment of the fashion designer’s dream to create a collection based from the popular folk tale. Photos by Bethoven Filomeno.
Dubai-based couture label, Michael Cinco, is among the seven d3 business partners taking part in the initiative. Cinco and his business partner Sayed Ali said in a joint statement: “We need to demonstrate the sense of belonging, community spirit and light that only fashion can bring to our world.
We are proud to be part of d3’s response to #AThread4Cause and believe it demonstrates the value of fashion and design in Dubai.”
Yasmine Yeya, founder and creative director of Maison Yeya, added: “The UAE has worked extremely hard to address the current situation and the creative community stands ready to support these efforts because it’s our duty to stand united against this challenge.”
Queen of bridal couture, Yasmine Yeya, Gowns ranged from the straight up lavish meringue-esque creations to slinky stunners with appliqués and elaborate backs, to that signature Yeya hi-lo style.
Cinco and Yeya are joined by Furne One of couture label Amato, Emirati designer Yara bin Shakar, Egypt’s Marmar Halim, Arab/American designer Zaid Farouki and women’s clothing retailer Si Fashion.
To provide the designers with ample material and to support local suppliers, d3 has established a partnership with a Dubai-based Saudi fabric manufacturer who will supply over four tons of technical fabric to the participating brands.
The reality star promoted her new line of face masks on Twitter, describing them as coming in “5 shades of Nudes,” but one of those five colors is solid black, described as “onyx” on the SKIMS website.
Kim Kardashian may have been trying to be fashion-forward with her new line of face masks, but many see the reality star as taking at least two steps backward in describing a solid black face mask on an African-American model as “nude.”
The masks do indeed come in five different shades, with four of them arguably coming close to various skin tones (described on her website as sand, clay, sienna and cocoa). But the last one, described as onyx on the website, certainly appears to be solid black.
This would be fine if she had described them as face masks in various shades or colors, as she did elsewhere, but it was her choice of the word “nude” in this particular tweet — and the fact that she chose a black model to highlight the “onyx” mask — that raised eyebrows and outrage online.
On her website, there is a white model wearing the “onyx” mask, and on Instagram she described the masks plainly as coming in “5 colors.” It was when she shifted to Twitter that she caught ire for a post that is still up after two days.
She followed that tweet with another promoting the masks, using more generic terms, and then another touting that they had sold out already and are being produced as quickly as possible to get them back in stock (they are still out of stock as of this writing).
Breathable, soft, and comfortable, SKIMS Face Masks are designed for all-day wear. Shop now in 5 colors at https://t.co/Bn8kuwzuR5 and today only, enjoy free shipping on domestic orders over $25 while supplies last. pic.twitter.com/79h44guaYK
She has since moved on to promoting her “summer mesh” line, which also comes in “onyx” shade. But this time, Kim is modeling the pieces herself and there is no mention of nude.
It’s certainly possible that the whole thing was a simple mistake on Kim’s part, who didn’t fully realize what she was saying with that word, but many online see it as an example of “casual racism,” and one that Kim should know better about considering her husband and children are black.
Is she even aware of the outcry? The “nude” term was used on her personal Twitter feed to promote the SKIMS line, and that tweet was retweeted by the official SKIMS account.
Both tweets are still active and both are filled with comments about how offensive they are. None of the comments have been responded to in any official capacity. TooFab has reached out to representatives for Kim Kardashian for comment.
This isn’t Kim’s first time courting controversy for perceived racism with her SKIMS line. The line’s very name was originally envisioned as Kimono, before calls of cultural insensitivity and appropriation saw the reality star shift to the SKIMS name.
Controversies aside, the new line of face masks reportedly sold out in less than 30 minutes. At the same time, Kim announced that her company was donating 10,000 of their masks to four different charities: Baby2Baby, Good+ Foundation, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and National Domestic Workers Alliance.
KITUI, Kenya A week ago, Josephine Wambua spent her days stitching gardening clothes. This week, the factory where she works transformed into an all-out effort to make 30,000 surgical masks a day in a country that barely produced any before.
A worker produces face masks at the Kitui County Textile Center in Kitui, Kenya, on Tuesday. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
“To sit here and do something that is useful to the world is a dream,” said Wambua, 24, who never went to school. “I never thought I would be part of something that has the potential of saving millions from dying.”
The factory’s shift in production reflects a dire need for even the most basic protective equipment here. Like Kenya, most African countries have little experience manufacturing medical supplies, instead relying on imports from China and foreign aid.
But as the coronavirus spreads more widely on the continent, African governments are coming up against stiff competition from heavily industrialized economies in bids for masks and other gear. Some are relying almost entirely on donations made by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who has shipped 6 million masks to Africa, in addition to huge numbers of gloves, swabs, protective suits and even 500 ventilators. Kenya alone says it needs 15 million masks.
African countries are not the only ones struggling to provide enough masks for their health workers nor is Africa the only place receiving millions of them from China. But while wealthier countries are counting on huge corporations to bridge the supply gap, others are turning to humbler means.
Before each shift, workers line up to have their temperature checked, a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the Kitui County Textile Center. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
In Mexico, for instance, hundreds of small businesses are switching to mask production — as are prisoners, who are being put to work on mask assembly lines. And in the Palestinian territories, a shoe factory has switched over to masks, and an engineer duo is even making their own ventilators.
In this small county 100 miles east of Nairobi, the governor decided last month that she was fed up with waiting on imports or donations from China. She knew how quickly the coronavirus could spread: Not only was she Kenya’s health minister 15 years ago, but her daughter and son-in-law became two of Kenya’s first 10 confirmed cases upon returning from a trip to Spain.
A doctor checks an employee’s temperature. None of the employees are allowed to commute home; instead, they sleep at a dormitory next to the factory. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
“Let’s not wait and wonder,” said Charity Ngilu, sitting at an appropriate social distance at the end of a long conference table in her governor’s office in Kitui. “We import everything and produce nothing, despite having all the resources at our disposal.”
Kenya has fewer than 200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and just one in Kitui County so far. But the county is churning out as many as 30,000 masks a day and selling them to private and public hospitals across the country, which are desperate for them.
Nearly 400 stitchers work in the factory, and 80 percent are women, most of whom never got a formal education. They once made all sorts of uniforms, and even embroidered sets of place mats and napkins, but now all their effort is focused on surgical masks that match the high industry standards for N95 respirators. They were retrained in just a week.
Workers gather to check the day’s production of face masks. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
“It was a lot of challenge to bring them from the village to where they are today,” said Mbuvi Mbathi, the factory manager. “But they are all experts now. They could each run their own factory, if you ask me.”
Nearly 400 stitchers work in the factory, and 80 percent are women. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
They are separated into three teams that work in eight-hour shifts, which keeps production going all day and night and also helps them keep their distance from one another. Instead of commuting, each shift sleeps and eats together at a dormitory of a vocational school next door that is closed because of the outbreak. They get paid less than $200 a month, but some said they consider the pay to be good for Kitui County, one of Kenya’s poorest areas.
“We had to stop the things we were doing here to support the country,” said one of the workers, Celina Mutiso, 32. “We should always be there for each other. That’s what this disease has taught us. That you cannot exist alone. You need others.”
The factory floor pulsates with the thrum of sewing machines and is littered with piles of the mesh, string and wire that make up the masks. A big whiteboard has the hourly target for each line of workers: 1,250.
Ngilu’s call for domestic production instead of reliance on China is diluted somewhat by the fact that the raw material of the mesh that makes up the majority of the mask known as PVC pellets is imported from China. So far, though, PVC pellets are much easier to find on the open market than masks themselves.
“The only jobs we have in this country anymore are in warehouses and shops, distributing Chinese goods,” said Ngilu. “This is why we remain poor and underprepared for shocks, like a pandemic.”
A supervisor carries a handful of face masks at the Kitui County factory. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
Ngilu wants to build two more factories as soon as possible, perhaps with funds the county raises in selling the masks. She also wants to train people across the country to make simpler, cloth-based masks that can be reused, as opposed to the surgical ones, which are single-use.
The workers used to make uniforms. They were retrained in a week. (Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images)
Like in most of the developing world, the vast majority of Kenya’s jobs are “informal,” meaning they are neither taxed nor beholden to any kind of worker protection. Now that Kenya has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and heavy restrictions on movement around the country, many in the informal sector have lost their jobs.
Ngilu said they should be taught to make masks, given the likelihood that Kenya will see further spread of the coronavirus over the coming weeks. That might lessen the chances of social unrest because of joblessness while creating something Kenya dearly needs or maybe even enough for export to other African countries.
The factory workers say they’d give the work a rave review, at least compared with stitching gardening trousers.
“We are now making not just clothes for people, but assisting millions of Kenyans to get something very important that they need at this time,” said Hellen Mawia, 35, a mother of four. “That makes my hours here worth it.”
The science is clear even people without symptoms can infect other just by speaking but a simple cloth covering can stop us spreading harmful droplets #Masks4All
You might walk into stores over the next few days and sicken dozens without knowing it. Some might die. Others will think they are dying before they recover.That’s the worry I have after reading a paper by Roman Wölfel and colleagues, published this week in Nature. It shows that people are most infectious in the first week after catching Covid-19. During that time they often show no or few symptoms.
Photo courtesy of Emmanuel Jambo and Kenya Fashion council
Model : Emmanuel Jambo and Rosemary Wahu Kagwi
In other words, Covid-19 moves like a silent assassin, with unwitting accomplices. Maybe you’ll be one of them. The best way to ensure that you’re not: wear a mask, and keep your distance from others. Don’t wear an N95 respirator, the type in desperately short supply in hospitals, which is designed to keep doctors safe even when doing potentially dangerous medical procedures. But almost any kind of simple cloth covering over your mouth, such as a home-made mask, or even a bandanna, can stop the assassin in its tracks.
The Wölfel paper explains we must focus our efforts on stopping the spread of droplets. This is because the virus is primarily transmitted through tiny droplets of saliva ejected when we speak. You can’t see them, but they are there. We also know that these droplets can go significantly further than the 6ft which is widely cited as a safe distance.
Research supported by Nobel prize-winning virologist Harold Varmus tells us that placing a layer of cloth in front of a person’s face stops 99% of the droplets.
So, the science is clear. We do not know when we are sick. If we are sick, then when we speak we are projecting virus-laden droplets into the air. Wearing a simple cloth mask stops those droplets in their tracks. “I’m not going to wear a surgical mask, because clinicians need those,” said Dr Harvey Fineberg, chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ standing committee on emerging infectious diseases and 21st century health threats. “But I have a nice western-style bandanna I might wear. Or I have a balaclava. I have some pretty nice options.” Fineberg led a committee of experts that has just released an expert consultation explaining that the virus can spread through talking, or even breathing.
Instead of making masks, some fashion companies have bypassed the problem by buying finished masks directly from China, which makes most of the world’s medical masks. LVMH, owner of brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior, said on March 21 it had managed to order 10 million masks from a Chinese industrial supplier, including 7 million surgical masks and 3 million FFP2 masks.
It plans to repeat the order in similar quantities weekly for at least four weeks. Kering, owner of Gucci and other labels, is purchasing a total of 3 million masks from China to give to France’s health service.
But companies looking to make masks themselves have to find the right textiles first. A spokesperson for Prada said in an emailed statement that officials for the region of Tuscany helped it find the raw material suppliers for the 110,000 masks and 80,000 medical overalls it’s making at its factory in Perugia. The masks will be surgical masks made from a nonwoven fabric.
Kering says its luxury houses Gucci, Balenciaga, and Yves Saint Laurent will begin making masks at their workshops as soon as the relevant authorities in Italy and France approve their manufacturing processes and materials. The company said it couldn’t offer any further detail at the moment.
A spokesperson for H&M said in an email that the company is working with the EU to determine which products are needed most urgently, but if it begins producing masks it will use both external suppliers already producing masks and its regular suppliers. “Irrespective of which supplier we use, we are of course following the quality standards and requirements set up by WHO and the EU,” the spokesperson said.
Zara, meanwhile, has said it’s working with its manufacturing experts to see if it can switch some of its textile manufacturing over to making “health materials.”
Some smaller companies in the US are going ahead and making cloth masks. Designer Christian Siriano told the New York Times he intends to make masks that meet the standards of the US Food and Drug Administration as soon as he’s able to receive the materials and patterns. In the meantime, he has had seamstresses producing prototype masks from a poly-lycra-cotton blend from the company’s stockroom. The Times said the company is testing them “according to regulations from the [New York] governor’s office.”
It’s unclear if those regulations allow for cloth masks and if they will be distributed to New York healthcare workers. Quartz has reached out to the New York governor’s office and to Christian Siriano and will update this story with any reply.
Los Angeles Apparel, another company the Times spoke with, said it was making masks from a “sweatshirt-like” fabric.
Companies don’t just need to find the right materials either. They may need to ensure their production sites comply with regulations on cleanliness to keep products sterile. Recently, when Shanghai General Motors started making masks, it used a clean room it normally keeps for research and development, a manufacturing expert at the World Economic Forum recently explained to Quartz. Fashion companies might have to sanitize their facilities and have authorities sign off, creating yet another step before they can get to work.
Not all masks are equal
Medical-grade masks are made from specialized textiles. The variety favored in places such as hospitals (pdf) today isn’t woven like a typical fabric. It’s made by complex and expensive machines that form melted, synthetic fibers into an extremely fine web. This web allows air to pass through while filtering out particles, which is why this non-woven material is used in respirators such as those labeled N95 in the US or FFP2 in Europe (pdf). The labels refer to the certification processes the respirators undergo. N95 respirators, which are designed to fit so they form a seal around the nose and mouth, can block at least 95% of particles as small as 0.3 microns under testing.
Surgical masks are also made from these fabrics, but they fit loosely on the face so they don’t offer as effective a filter. Still, they can keep medical workers from infecting others if they’re sick themselves and can catch some particles.
The surge in demand for these medical-grade textiles, however, has left their manufacturers struggling to keep up. Fashion companies, meanwhile, don’t generally have established suppliers for these materials, and the regular cloth they do have easy access to may not be much help to healthcare workers.
There is some evidence a cloth mask is still better than no mask at all—but just barely. The World Health Organization recommends against (pdf) using cloth masks, such as cotton or gauze, “under any circumstance.”
One 2015 study of about 1,600 hospital workers in Vietnam also discouraged the use of cloth masks, finding almost 97% of particles passed through them. The lead author said in a release at the time that cloth masks “should not be used by workers in any healthcare setting,” especially high-risk situations, and believed cloth masks could even raise the risk of infection, in part by retaining moisture.
The rapid spread of Corona virus ( COVID-19 ) presents an unprecedented challenge to people across the globe. Along with its tragic human toll, the virus has provoked mass panic, sending the markets tumbling to historic lows and causing dramatic shortages in products even tangentially related to the outbreak.
But the virus has also prompted displays of heroism on an equally unprecedented scale, a small but crucial reminder that in times of true crisis there is no more indefatigable force than the human spirit.
Medical-grade masks are made from specialized textiles. The variety favored in places such as hospitals (pdf) today isn’t woven like a typical fabric. It’s made by complex and expensive machines that form melted, synthetic fibers into an extremely fine web. This web allows air to pass through while filtering out particles, which is why this non-woven material is used in respirators such as those labeled N95 in the US or FFP2 in Europe (pdf). The labels refer to the certification processes the respirators undergo. N95 respirators, which are designed to fit so they form a seal around the nose and mouth, can block at least 95% of particles as small as 0.3 microns under testing.
Here is comprehensive list of who’s doing what, and where, that we’ll keep updated to reflect any new announcements regarding which brands are involved at home and abroad.
The French label made a lump-sum donation to the Fondation Hôpitaux de France- Hôpitaux de Paris, and, as of Tuesday, has pledged to contribute 10% of all purchases made through its website to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, from now until the end of the confinement period in France.
The iconic luxury label has pledged 1.25 million euros to a group of Italian hospitals and institutions, including the Luigi Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals and the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, along with the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome.
Earlier last month, Bulgari also made a donation of an unspecified sum to the research department of the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome, allowing the hospital to purchase a microscopic image acquisition system valued at around 100,000 euros.
On Tuesday, Canali announced it will be donating 200,000 euros (or roughly $215,000) to the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza, through the brand’s nonprofit foundation, the Fondazione Canali Onlus.
On Tuesday, the Council of Fashion Designers of America announced the launch of A Common Thread, a fundraising initiative with Vogue to support small businesses within the fashion industry impacted by the global pandemic. The fund will also repurpose the $700,000 typically dedicated to the duo’s Fashion Fund Award, instead allocating the amount, and potentially more, to businesses that apply for grants starting on April 8th.
After New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted asking for PPE (personal protective equipment) supplies including face masks, the NY-based designer and his team got in touch with his office and now plan to produce modified surgical masks from fabric they already had on hand for healthcare workers not directly interacting with the virus.
The beauty manufacturer announced earlier this week it intends to repurpose its manufacturing sites to provide hydroalcoholic gel to efforts fighting the spread of the virus.
The Italian label announced a comprehensive plan to partner with Humanitas University to fund studies and further research dedicated to finding out more about the cause of the virus.
The parent company behind fast-fashion brand Zara announced it will be using its factories to make face masks for the Spanish government, with the company saying it expects to ship out 300,000 masks by the end of this week.
John Elliott might be a smaller brand than any of the other big names on this list, but through its Mainline for the Frontline initiative, the label is doing its best to make an impact. The brand made a $10,000 donation to the UCLA Health Fund and has pledged to donate an additional 10% of proceeds from its sale section (which is full of fan favorites) to the same worthy cause, with a target goal of $100,000.
The French luxury conglomerate donated 7.5 million yuan (or $1 million) to the Red Cross Society of China, andGucci CEO Marco Bizzarri personally donated more than $100,000 to hospitals in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The group also announced it will be donating millions of masks to the French health service and will be converting some of its factories to produce other PPE supplies
Along with a donation of 1 million euros to several partner organizations, L’Oreal has also used its facilities to start manufacturing hand sanitizer and hydro-alcoholic gel.
After donating 16 million renminbi (or $2.2 million) to The Red Cross Society of China, the Paris-based multinational corporation announced that it’s converting the facilities formerly used to produce fragrances for its extensive roster of brands to make hydro-alcoholic gel, to be supplied free of charge to the French government and healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic. On Saturday, LVMH also announced it will donate 40 million masks to France.
The Italian textile firm has converted its production lines to make regulation-approved face masks on an impressive scale (the company has said it will likely be able to produce up to 100,000 masks a day going forward).
The Swoosh’s top executives, in tandem with the company itself, announced they’re committing more than $15 million to COVID-19 response efforts, including donations to regional organizations in Oregon and global foundations fighting the virus around the world.
Prada’s co-CEOs (husband-and-wife duo Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada) and Chairman Carlo Mazzi have donated two complete intensive care and resuscitation units each to the Vittore Buzzi, Sacco, and San Raffaele hospitals in Milan. Today, Prada also announced its factory in Perugia will be producing 80,000 medical overalls and over 100,000 masks for healthcare workers in the region.
The NYC-based label has pledged to set aside $50,000 for “minority and women owned small creative businesses” that are currently struggling due to the pandemic.
The Italian shoemaker started by Giuseppe Santoni set up a crowdsourced fundraising campaign to purchase lung ventilators in support of the hospitals in his hometown region of Marche, Italy, donating the first 50,000 euros himself.
One of the biggest secondhand marketplaces in the game, StockX is focusing not on the virus itself but those affected by it. For many, social distancing can lead to missed meals, so StockX’s #FlexFromHome initiative is donating $20,000 to Feeding America, with an additional $1 (10 meals) for each tagged post from users.
The Italian fashion house donated 1 million renminbi (or $143,748) to The Chinese Red Cross Foundation, and this past Saturday, Donatella Versace and her daughter also announced a personal donation of 200,000 euros to the ICU of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital.
Fashion companies from H&M and Zara to luxury firms LVMH, Kering, and Prada are contributing to the fight against Covid-19 by pledging to supply protective items for medical workers. Many are offering to pitch in with their production facilities and make masks, which are in short supply. The tough part, however, isn’t necessarily sewing them. It may be getting the materials to make them in the first place.
