As of this writing, the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 has surpassed the 1 million mark with a total of almost 1.3 million cases worldwide. We see in the news how both developed and developing countries are desperate for medical supplies to treat patients that come in daily in hundreds and sometimes, even in thousands.
While every government is doing the very bets it can to increase production and import supplies from wherever it can across the globe, it somehow still falls short. During this most challenging period in recent history, it’s been inspiring to see how some of the world’s most high-end brands who are known for their expertise in leather and luxury craftsmanship have stepped up to offer their resources.
Today, we’ll be sharing with you the European brands that have opened their factories to contribute to supply their own countries’ hospitals in forms of masks, face shields, protective clothing, and even respirators.
LVMH Group: hand disinfectants
The LVMH Group is among the first to step up and offer their resources to help the medical workers in France! They changed all the production lines of the group’s brands Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy and others to produce hand disinfection alcohol for medical staff. In addition to that, the LVMH Group also decided to purchase and donate 10 million masks to medical institutions in France to protect the frontline medical staff.
Dior: masks
In addition to changing their production line of perfumes to hand disinfectants, Dior under the LVMH group has also allowed its luxury kid’s clothing brand Baby Dior to start producing masks. The most moving thing is that all the employees who participated in the mask making are all voluntary participants . They personally make each mask by hand with their best tailoring skills to show their support to the frontline personnel through the mask.
Kering Group: Masks and financial support for vaccine development
The Kering Group is also a leader in the luxury industry, with well-known designer brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta. Like LVMH, the Kering Group announced that it will use its Saint Laurent and Balenciaga production lines to produce millions of medical-grade masks for various medical units in France. In addition, donations will be made to assist research institutes in developing vaccines. At the same time, they’ve committed to putting the safety and health of their employees as their priority.
Gucci: protective clothing and masks
Apart from French luxury brands, the Kering Group’s Gucci has also announced that it is leading its factories to produce 55,000 pieces of protective clothing and more than one million pieces of masks. In addition, they also launched the “We Are All in This Together ” crowdfunding campaign. Italian artists have urged everyone to work together to overcome this difficulty by drawing their hands on their hearts.
Chanel: masks and protective clothing
Chanel also announced that they are ready to produce masks and protective clothing, and are currently waiting for the approval of relevant French units to begin production. At the same time, they also ensure that amid this pandemic, they will protect the health and job opportunities of every employee.
Bvlgari: disinfectant and hydro-alcoholic hand lotion
Another Italian brand joining the fight is Bulgari. Bulgari is one of Italy’s most well-known luxury brands for jewelry, perfume, and leather goods. Amid the devastating effects of Covid-19 in Italy, they have also changed their perfume factory’s production to hundreds of thousands of bottles of hand disinfectants for the frontline medical staff of the country. Bulgari believes that it is its duty and responsibility to help the Italian government fight the epidemic, and once again emphasizes that only through solidarity can we overcome this!
Lamborghini: face masks and shields
Another brand from Italy is Lamborghini. This leading luxury car-maker has offered their help to fight this virus their own way. They cooperated with the University of Bologna in Italy to change the original production line for luxury interiors to medical masks, which can produce about 1,000 per day. In addition, they’re also using their 3D printing technology to create protective shields, which can produce about 200 per day.
Dyson: respirators
Dyson, a British luxury brand for home appliance has also promised its resources towards fighting the Covid-19.
After receiving a call from the British Prime Minister, Dyson’s CEO decided to mobilize the company to work together and develop a brand new respirator ” The CoVent ” within 10 days. This new machine can be used for remote hospitals and field hospitals with insufficient resources. In addition, it is also very suitable for use in transporting patients. Dyson is also expected to send 5,000 sets of their own respirators to the international community.
We hope this news has lifted up your spirits in the way that it has done for ours. Though it seems like winning against this virus is an uphill battle, we’re seeing more and more good people and good will arise from this situation. We’ve got more pieces of good stories like this over her.