It's dire times. There's no denying that the COVID-19 virus has blanketed the world with gloom and doom for the next (hopefully, just) few months. Businesses big and small, and in varying sectors, have been hit hard. Countries are in temporal lockdowns, enforcing stay-home guidelines. Retail stores have ceased operations for the time being in order to protect both customers and their frontline employees. And work-from-home arrangements are the new normal.
This is serious.
In the luxury industry, many companies have decided to halt production and manufacturing for two weeks at a time. This is no doubt a cost-cutting measure, but one that's also aimed at 'flattening the curve'—a term that's been heavily used in the media, and basically means slowing down the spread of COVID-19 in order to alleviate stress on medical assistance and capacities—by reducing the need for people to gather in groups. Companies such as Rolex and Rolls-Royce have announced suspension of their production, while closely monitoring the situation.
While it does seem rather bleak, it's also in times of crises like this that we see some brands and companies stepping up positively. The luxury fashion industry is not just ceasing store operations in countries where numbers of cases are spiking; measures have been put in place as well as monetary donations have been pledged to help in the fight against COVID-19. No matter the scale, every positive action certainly counts.
Moncler
The Italian brand has announced on 17 March 2020, that it will commit 10 million euros to the Fiera Hospital project initiated by the region of Lombardy of which Milan is the capital. The project will see the construction of a hospital that's equipped with over 400 intensive care units, in the ex Fiera Milano area.
Versace
Chief creative officer of Versace, Donatella Versace, and her daughter Allegra Versace Beck are pledging a donation of 200,000 euros. The amount will go to the intensive care department of Milan's San Raffaele hospital, one of the city's private hospitals. Additionally, the brand donated 1 million renminbi to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation to help with shortage of medical supplies in the country.
Dolce&Gabbana
On 17 February 2020, Dolce&Gabbana announced a support and funding of a scientific research project in tackling COVID-19. The project is led by professor Alberto Mantovani, scientific director of Humanitas and emeritus professor of Humanitas University in Italy, and in co-operation with virologists Elisa Vicenzi and Massimo Clementi of San Raffaele Vita-Salute University. Both Vicenzi and Clementi are credited as the first in Italy to isolate the pathogen responsible for 2003's SARS outbreak.
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP
The online retail company has donated it Premier Delivery Service fleet to charity. Vehicles that are part of this fleet will now serve as vehicles to help seven local Age UK charities in London. This will allow the charities to deliver critical essentials to those in need, such as the elderly, as they stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. Additionally, the company has also donated 100 laptops and created digital education content packages for the Italian Ministry of Education to aid in homeschooling for the country.
Prada
The company has pledged the funding of two resuscitation and complete intensive care units to each of the following hospitals in Milan: Sacco, San Raffaele, and Vittore Buzzi.
LVMH
Aside from donating 16 million renminbi to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, the French luxury conglomerate also announced that the LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics business will begin to manufacture quantities of hydroalcoholic gels for France. The gels have been distributed for free to French health authorities, with priority going to the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris. LVMH has pledged to continue doing so for as long as it is necessary. As of the week of 23 March 2020, LVMH will also be providing at least 40 million surgical masks to French authorities, over the course of the next four weeks.
Santoni
Shoe designer Giuseppe Santoni has started a GoFundMe campaign with the aim of raising 500,000 euros to support Italy's Marche region by equipping the hospitals with ventilators. Santoni himself has donated 50,000 euros.
PVH Corp.
The fashion and lifestyle company—its portfolio of brands include Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger—announced on 30 March that it's committing USD1 million towards COVID-19 relief. This includes USD100,000 donation to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund that was created by the UN Foundation and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation. Additionally, the company has also started shipping more than 2 million units of Personal Protective Equipment—isolation gowns, masks, face shields and the like—to Montefiore Health System in New York. The company has also donated to several other funds and charities that support relief efforts.
Giorgio Armani
Italian designer Giorgio Armani reportedly donated 1.25 million euros to various hospitals in Italy.
Vestiaire Collective
The pre-owned fashion platform has organised a charity sale with pieces donated by style icons such as Kate Moss, Thandie Newton, Anna Dello Russo and Carine Roitfeld. All proceeds from the sale, including all of Vestiaire Collective's commissions from it, will go to various organisations including The World Health Organisation, the France/Paris Hospitals Foundation, and Madrid's La Paz Hospital.
Sergio Rossi
Italian shoemaker Sergio Rossi has donated 100,000 euros to the ASST Fatebenefratelli—Sacco hospital in Milan. And from 14 to 23 March 2020, 100 percent of proceeds made from online purchases through SergioRossi.com will go to helping to fight COVID-19.
Bulgari
The Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital in Rome received an unspecified donation amount from Bulgari. This allowed for the purchase of a new 3D microscope (reportedly worth around 100,000 euros) that will be an ideal tool for studying COVID-19 infections at a cellular level. This also marks the first microscope of its kind that will be installed in Rome. The brand is also manufacturing and delivering several hundreds of thousands bottles of hand sanitisers to all medical facilities through the Italian Civil Protection Department.
Burberry
Burberry is taking multiple approaches in helping to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. Part of it includes facilitating the delivery of masks to healthcare workers using its own global supply chain network, reworking its trench coat factory in Castleford, Yorkshire to make non-surgical gowns and masks for patients, as well as funding the research by University of Oxford on a vaccine.
Zegna Group
Members of the Zegna family, as well as the Zegna Group's top management, have pledged personal donations amounting to EUR3 million towards Italy's healthcare workers. The Group's manufacturing facilities in Italy and Switzerland will partly contribute to making medical masks. Additionally, the Group has already made direct donations to several hospitals to provide them with necessary ventilators and medical masks.
Kering
Parent company of luxury brands such as Gucci and Bottega Veneta, Kering, announced a donation to the Red Cross, specifically in the Hubei province. The 7.5 million renminbi donation will be used to help frontline prevention and control, as well as training and public health education. Additionally, Kering will be providing around 3 million surgical masks to French health authorities, while two of its brands—Balenciaga and Saint Laurent—will begin to manufacture masks in their workshops. Gucci will also be donating more than 1 million masks and 500,000 medical overalls to Italy's frontline medical staff.
