Global luxury fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Chanel are putting their resources and supply chain expertise behind making protective clothing for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, CNN news website reported last week.
French fashion brand Louis Vuitton said it was joining the global effort to make more supplies to protect healthcare workers. The company, via its internet blog, said it had repurposed several of its workshops across France to "produce hundreds of thousands of non-surgical face masks" for healthcare workers.
The company also said it was making and donating thousands of hospital gowns for six Paris hospitals in urgent need of protective gear.
British fashion brand Burberry has also pivoted part of its fashion production machinery to make masks. The company said it was using its global supply chain "to fast-track the delivery of 100,000 surgical masks to the UK National Health Service, for use by medical staff."
Burberry added that it was repurposing its trench coat factory in Castleford, Yorkshire, to make non-surgical gowns and masks for patients in UK hospitals.
Another French fashion house, Chanel, said it is contributing to the effort by making face masks. The company announced last month that it was seeking approval for raw materials and prototypes so that its sewing specialists, who typically make the brand's ready-to-wear fashion collections, could start to make face masks and hospital gowns.
