Some of the iconic fashion and luxury brands are making the headlines yet again, but this time for a noble cause—their initiative to help fight the CCP virus pandemic by manufacturing hand sanitizers and masks to donate to public hospitals.
Recently, the Paris-based luxury brand Louis Vuitton, which includes famous French fragrances such as Givenchy, Guerlain, and Christian Dior, stated that it will be using its perfume and cosmetics factories to make the crucial hydroalcoholic gel to help keep hands virus-free. LVMH announced via a press release that CEO Bernard Arnault had made the decision to convert fragrance factories into sites for sanitizer production to fight the COVID-19 epidemic caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.
“The gel will be delivered free of charge to the French health authorities and as a priority from this Monday [March 16] to the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris,” the press release noted.
The company noted on Twitter that their Rome-based jewelry and fragrances brand, Bvlgari, is also providing the much-needed support to Italian authorities in the fight against COVID-19 by “producing and donating several hundreds of thousands of hand gel.” The announcement added that this “will continue as long as necessary to keep people safe.”
As early as the beginning of March, when coronavirus cases began spiking all over Europe and North America, the demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizer gels witnessed an unprecedented rise. Per an Adweek article, the sales of hand sanitizers have surged to 202 percent between January 2019 and January 2020. Amid the pandemic, the initiative taken up by LVMH, which has significant operations in France and Italy (regions heavily rocked by the virus), is commendable.
Meanwhile, the family of luxury brands is also using its substantial clothing manufacturing capacities to meet the demand for face masks. On March 21, 2020, the company announced having tied up with a Chinese supplier for the delivery of 40 million masks in France.
The Louis Vuitton family isn’t the only clothing maker stepping in to speed up the production of the vital protective equipment. In Spain, the fashion company Inditex, which owns brands such as Zara and Bershka, has joined the effort to manufacture face masks.
In a statement to Vogue, the Galicia-based company said that it “already donated 10,000 protective face masks and by the end of this week expects to be in a position to ship another 300,000 surgical masks.”
Closer to home, American fashion companies are doing their part to help out with the shortages of necessary supplies for healthcare workers. Clothing giant Gap, which also owns brands Banana Republic and Old Navy, has also joined efforts to provide protective gear for caregivers.
Gap announced of Twitter: “Our teams are connecting some of the largest hospital networks in Calif. w/ our vendors to deliver PPE supplies while we pivot resources so factory partners can make masks, gowns & scrubs for healthcare workers on the front lines.”
As for hand sanitizer gel, the United States is finding help from craft distilleries across the country, who are putting their stocks of hard liquor to good use, Forbes reported.
According to the Miami Herald, Bacardi, the Bermuda-based spirits manufacturer, is converting two of its alcohol factories (one each in Puerto Rico and Florida) to produce enormous quantities of hand sanitizer. The company’s North Florida plant will produce up to 120,000 bottles of sanitizer in one week for donation. As with the supplies coming from other manufacturers, these will be donated free of charge to hospitals.
While the federal government has been on the front line of the CCP virus response, the healthcare system in the United States and other countries will need all the help it can get from the private sector.
