What fashion brands are doing to fight Coronavirus

(Image credit: 2020 Victor Boyko)

With the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, fashion brands around the world are doing what they can to help, by either donating or spreading goodwill so we thought we'd share these with you in the spreading a little positivity.

Fashion brands giving NHS discounts & spreading joy

Ralph & Russo. As a show of much-deserved gratitude for the workers bravely fighting this ongoing battle, the brand has put together care packages to be delivered directly to essential healthcare workers at the Royal London Hospital as well as the Infection Control Team. With special support from luxury beauty brand 111SKIN, each package will contain a Ralph & Russo silk pochette scarf from the Spring-Summer 2020 collection as well as two masks from 111SKIN, in an effort to lift spirits and encourage much-needed self-care amongst our healthcare heroes.

Kate Spade. To help recognize and support the hard work of all NHS, caregivers and key workers in our communities, Kate Spade would like to gift them a handbag. With 100 bags to give away, it is their way of letting these people know how special they are. If you know someone you would like to nominate to receive a bag, email us at community@katespade.com, including the person’s name and a little bit about them.

Crocs has donated over 200,000 pairs of shoes to hospitals globally to support healthcare workers during the Covid-19 crisis. They are now inviting online customers to join in further supporting healthcare workers either by giving £10 with a purchase of Classic Clogs or by simply contributing £10 to give the gift of Crocs footwear to a healthcare worker. For every contribution made, Crocs will send a pair of shoes directly to those frontline workers who need them most.

Manolo Blahnik introduces the Smile Initiative, a collection of Manolo’s sketches to be enjoyed from home in hope of providing inspiration and spreading positivity in this time of isolation and uncertainty. The initiative is made in support of our partnership with the Mental Health Foundation which has provided an incredible resource for looking after mental health with management tips, working methods, acts of kindness and more which can be found here. To spread more smiles and further unite our community, participants are invited to share their creations on social media using #ManoloBlahnikSmiles so we may share on our channels.

French Connection. The brand has launched a #TreatTuesday series. Every Tuesday, they are giving followers the chance to tag family members or friends that need a little love or someone they believe has gone the extra mile for example NHS staff and key workers who they feel needs a little joy in their lives during these unprecedented times. 10 followers will be selected, along with their nominated hero each week to share a little #TreatTuesday surprise with.

Chloé. Introducing Chloé Voices: a series of uplifting content, live interactions and performances taking place on the brand's Instagram feed, Live and Stories to enjoy now while we stay at home and that will continue beyond.

Aspinal. Aspinal has launched #AspinalHeroes on Instagram, an interactive social initiative to show its appreciation to those at the forefront of the current COVID-19 crisis we are currently facing as a nation. It will be open for 4 weeks, with 100 winners each week chosen to receive a beautiful personalised Aspinal gift, fully gift wrapped which will hopefully feel really special and brighten up our heroes days.

Couverture & The Garbstore. The sore is spreading joy with an Easter egg hunt. Customers just need to screenshot 1 of the 13 Easter Eggs hidden online to win 30% of your basket. Clues will be released on Instagram accounts daily.

Net-A-Porter. YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP has volunteered vans from its premier delivery fleet in London to Age UK charities, to delivery essential supplies to those in need.

Monica Vinader. To share some love, the brand has teamed up with Original Travel to create a raffle for NHS staff, a small something to give back and say thank you. The luxury raffle consists of a holiday worth £10,000, 50 pieces of MV jewellery, clothing, beauty, food and drink prizes and much more. The raffle will be open to entries on World Health Day, April 7th.

Naturae Sacra. The handbag brand has teamed up with friends of the brand to spread a little joy. With each order, customers will receive a 'Package of Hope' which includes items to help with anxiety - from water paint, brushes, white canvas, a UBS drive with curated music accordingly to Naturae's tone of voice and DNA, a traditional soap from Izmir (the land in Turkey where the community handcrafts our natural based resin handles) and a portrait of the person that is going to receive this package (drawn by Gizem co-founder and creative director).

By Rotation. Fashion rental platform By Rotation are offering a free rental to anyone who works at the NHS for their next party, date, holiday when this is behind us.

Lulu Guinness. The accessories brand is supporting acts of kindness by asking followers to share on Instagram acts of kindness that are being carried out in local communities. The brand will also select a couple of nominees each week who can select a bag of their choice.

Kurt Geiger. After closing all its stores, Kurt Geiger is asking its 2500-strong workforce to help support their local communities whilst they are off work and receiving full pay. It has also aligned with Age UK who have launched a neighbourly volunteering scheme and has asked all of its employees to spend some of the time they are not working to volunteer with Age UK in their local communities.

CEO Neil Clifford has pledged a scheme to donate 55 £100 gift cards to every city hospital across the U.K and Ireland where Kurt Geiger has stores, to key workers in the critical care departments of the hospitals. Furthermore, all NHS employees will receive a 50% discount for a full year in any Kurt Geiger store once they are open.

Baukjen. The clothing brand is offering a 40% discount to all key workers who are working tirelessly to fight the impacts of the virus in a show of support for the incredible work that they do. This includes social care workers, teachers, police and transport network staff. All you need to do is email a photo of your ID to theteam@baukjen.com who will issue you an online discount code.

ASOS. The online British retailer has created NHS charity tees and hoodies from £20, with 100 per cent of the profits from every sale being matched by the company and donated to charities supporting local NHS trusts and communities (including local-to-ASOS UK hospitals, Barnsley Hospital Charity and UCLH in London). Unisex, limited-edition and all for charity. What's not to love?

Fashion brands making masks and protective equipment

Mulberry has delivered the first batch of PPE to the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. This is alongside the £75k that has now been raised for the National Emergencies Trust.

Baukjen & Isabella Oliver. Sustainably conscious online womenswear and maternity wear brands; Baukjen and Isabella Oliver, have partnered with Vermis, one of their long-standing manufacturers in Portugal, to make non-medical masks for personal use, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brøgger. When Covid-19 hit, the founder of The Fashion School, Caroline Gration, started the volunteer pop-up factory for Royal Brompton hospital to make min 5,000 PPE gowns. With Julie Brøgger's background in design, she helped by creating the patterns and made card copies so that multiple could be cut at the same time to increase the productivity for these gowns, during this desperate time. Off the back of this more hospitals contacted Caroline, asking for their help and now they are setting up their second pop-up factory at the Royal Free Hospital in NW3. Julie Brøgger created a digital version of the patterns now, and it is being shared across the country to all NHS trusts, hospitals and care homes so that more pop-up factories can be set-up.

Reiss. Reiss has taken steps to utilise their supply chain, stores and partners to help support the production and distribution of PPE by purchasing masks and fabric to create much-needed scrubs.

Lacoste. LACOSTE is proud to announce the milestone of the 100,000 masks produced in a few weeks. We want to thank all our volunteers who work every day to protect lives. As the fight is not over, the discreet heroes in France will intensify the production to reach 200,000 masks.

DeMellier. The DeMellier factory in Spain has been closed down and the team are producing masks and medical equipment for local hospitals.

MOSCOT have pledged over $1.5 million worth of eyeglasses to Covid-19 front line personnel and have sent around 5,000 pairs of glasses.

MANGO. The brand is continuing its fight against COVID-19 and will manufacture 13,000 disposable polyethylene gowns for healthcare teams. To do this, the company has transformed its usual process of creating garment collections to a large-scale system to manufacture gowns. More than 30 Mango employees have been working on this project since 8th April at the company's facilities in Palau-solità i Plegamans (Barcelona).

Sandro Takes Care. The brand are working across Europe and the US to provide breakfast to hospital staff in a number of key affected cities and are also helping to produce non-surgical safety masks to hospital staff. Please find the full release attached outlining further details on this initiative. Sandro will also be launching both and Womens and Menswear t-shirts in the coming weeks, with 100% of the benefits going to the Red Cross to support them during this crisis.

Lacoste. Since mid-March, nearly a hundred employees from Lacoste's French factories have volunteered to work on the manufacturing of 145,000 washable and reusable masks. Part of these masks are intended to supply local shopkeepers and enable them to protect themselves in their daily life and another part will be made available to the French government in the fight against Covid 19.

Elleme. Parisian handbag and shoe brand Elleme secured 10,000 surgical masks to donate to hospitals and healthcare professionals in France and Italy. Over the weekend, they launched 20 archive styles where 20% proceeds will go directly towards funding PPE, face masks, gloves, goggles and gowns for frontline health workers.

Mackintosh. The factory in Nelson has stopped all production of Mackintosh products and is producing NHS nurses uniforms. All the Mackintosh staff working on these volunteered to work on the production of the items.

Pinko has donated 15 ventilation helmets for intensive care to the Vaio Hospital. In two weeks, the helmets have been sourced from abroad and imported to Italy, and an agreement has been made with Pinko, the Municipality and the team of Vaio doctors and Ausl specialists.

Chanel. The couture house has announced it will start producing face masks in its factories to help health workers in France.

Les Georgettes. In response to the critical COVID-19 crisis and lack of crucial medical equipment, Les Georgettes’ manufacturer Maison Altesse has announced the donation of 4,100 FFP2 face masks to local services in vital need, including the local police force, a retirement home and a department for COVID-19 patients at Croix-Rousse Hospital.

Boden. To support doctors, patients and communities during the Coronavirus outbreak, Boden has collaborated with Helpforce, a charity that coordinates initiatives to improve the lives of NHS staff and patients. Offering a large volume of much needed clothing supplies, Boden is providing nightwear and clothing through Helpforce charity to NHS staff who are unable to return home at the end of hospital shifts and to recovered patients, unable to get clothing from their families in hospital due to the risk of infection.

Sandro. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Sandro has launched the Sandro Takes Care initiative. The brand are working across Europe and the US to provide breakfast to hospital staff in a number of key affected cities and are also helping to produce non-surgical safety masks to hospital staff. Sandro will also be launching both and Womens and Menswear t-shirts in the coming weeks, with 100% of the benefits going to the Red Cross to support them during this crisis.

Nanushka. Nanushka has pledged to help address the protective mask shortage that parts of the world are currently facing in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. By virtue of its global distribution network, Nanushka has managed to secure an order with a Chinese industrial supplier for a delivery of 12,000 masks in the coming weeks. These will be donated to health authorities in the brand’s native Hungary.

Reformation. The City of Los Angeles and Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a partnership with Reformation on LA Protects, an initiative to organise local manufacturers, who are not already in the protective gear supply chain, to ramp up production of non-medical masks to help the current Coronavirus crisis. Reformation has been deputised to recruit and organise other LA garment and apparel manufacturers to supply materials and support manufacturing protective equipment at scale. They are also utilising the Reformation sewing factory, fabrics from their warehouse, and working with their talented in-house teams to manufacture masks for this initiative.

Salvatore Ferragamo has decided to support the call to action made by the Tuscany Region and taken the initiative to manufacture and donate the following: 100,000 TNT anti-bacterial masks, 50,000 units of hand sanitizer and 3,000 FPP1 masks to local healthcare units.

REVOLVE is donating 10,000 N95 FDA hospital approved face masks to 2 hospitals in Los Angeles that need support with protective equipment.

La Perla. 10,000 masks have been donated by the La Perla Group to the Municipality of Bologna. The historic Bologna-based company also is added to the companies that are donating personal protective equipment, more fundamental than ever in this period of coronavirus emergency. It will also donate 10% of all proceeds to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund hosted by the United Nations Foundation and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, in support of the World Health Organisation.

Saint James. Saint James is momentarily shifting its activity to produce protective masks for the human and material environment towards to health institutions and in priority for hospitals.

ANINE BING is producing 10,000 masks and donating them to foundations that need them to continue with the fight against Coronavirus.

H&M. To help tackle the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, H&M Group is now quickly arranging for its supply chain to produce personal protective equipment to be provided to hospitals and health care workers.

MANGO. The Spanish chain will donate 2 million masks in hospitals across Spain, many of which are in shortage of essential medical supplies to carry out their heroic work. The distribution will be made following the instructions of the Ministry of Health.

Prada. Has donated six intensive care and resuscitation units to three hospitals in Milan: San Raffaele, Sacco and Vittore Buzzi, which is a children's hospital.

LVMH, the group behind many luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, is mobilising all its facilities in France to create hand sanitiser for health workers.

Fashion brands making donations

ba&sh. The I Will Hug you Later T-shirt has been designed to support healthcare workers across the world, in thanks for their efforts during this difficult time. Ba&sh will be donating 100% of all profits from the t-shirt in the UK to NHS Charities Together.

RIXO. The brand’s NHS t-shirt has been re-stocked, with proceeds going to the NHS. It is also donating 50% of sales of its PINK t-shirt to Carers Trust who support those who selflessly (and without pay) care for those in need.

M&S launches second batch of charity T-shirts as M&S Food Ambassador, Amanda Holden releases her charity single, Over the Rainbow – both for NHS Charities Together.

Cult Gaia. The brand has created social campaigns for charitable donations and produced masks for customers.

rag & bone. The brand has launched masks for Covid-19 Relief. Available exclusively in limited quantities on rag-bone.com, for every mask purchased $5 will be donated to City Harvest in NY.

ASOS. Choose Love has launched a limited edition t-shirt range exclusive to ASOS, Choose Our Carers and Choose Our NHS, to raise funds for care workers and NHS staff.

Skechers. The brand continues to provide much needed funds to care for shelter animals across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic with a donation of more than $509,000 to the Petco Foundation, bringing the Company’s total contribution to over $5.45 million for animal welfare agencies.

The Kooples. On 28th of April at 11am in Paris (10am UK time), The Kooples will host an online live auction of some design pieces originally found in some of their flagship stores around the world, or housed in recent years in the Hôtel particulier of 1879, the brand's Parisian headquarters. The online event will be set on the iconic Hôtel Drout House, a leading auction house established in Paris in 1852 (drouot.com) and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Fondation des Hôpitaux de France.

hush x Crisis together t-shirt. For every limited edition “Together” Tee sold, hush will donate £10 to Crisis in aid of those who are most exposed to Coronavirus.

Nobis will be donating 100% of digital sales generated over the next three weeks to frontline healthcare teams. This initative follows an initial donation of $100,000 to local hospitals.

Missoma launched a few weeks ago special initiative on Instagram to gift 100 National Health Service workers in the UK a specially-designed gold necklace as a small token of gratitude. Missoma received such a positive response from their community that they’ve decided to launch the necklace as a limited edition piece, of which 100% of profits will be donated to NHS Charities Together.

Maxine. The shoe brand is donating all profits from shoe sales to Doctors Without Borders and Help Them Help Us, who are fighting against Covid-19 on the front lines, for April.

PILGRIM. Danish jewellery label PILGRIM has announced further support for their charity partner Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), during the Covid-19 crisis. PILGRIM will donate £12 from every sale of the LA Sunshine necklace from the brand’s new Summer ’20 collection – currently available online here.

Tatty Devine will donate £2 of every order placed to the Young Women's Trust Emergency Fund, placing money directly in the hands of young women facing financial crisis, helping them buy essentials like food and pay their rent.

Tiffany & Co. Foundation has announced that it will be donating $1M to COVID-19 related causes. Urgently allocating $750,000 to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization, powered by the UN Foundation and $250,000 to The New York Community Trust’s NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund.

Levi's. Chip Bergh, President & CEO of Levi Strauss & Co has announced a commitment of $3 million to Covid-19 relief efforts, with a focus on employees, community partners and supply chain workers.

Paige. The LA-based brand, renowned for their luxury denim collections are now donating 20% of their entire sales to St. Vincents Meals on Wheels. St. Vincent’s Meals on Wheels are a non-profit organisation that prepare and deliver nutritious meals to vulnerable people during this crisis. It is an LA based charity, home to Paige. 

Valle & Vik. Silje is donating 10% of her proceed to the NHS and is also a NHS volunteer herself, where she provides short-term telephone support to individuals who are at risk of loneliness as a consequence of self-isolation.

Alighieri. Jewellery brand Alighieri is donating 20% of any website orders to Trussel Trust, who are supporting Food Banks around the UK.

Linda Farrow. LINDA FARROW will be donating 10% of their global online sales from a seasonal edit to the NHS to support them during this difficult period. Please find attached the press release attached which includes a quote from our founder.

Deborah Lyons. In an effort to do what they can to support the wider community, Deborah Lyons will be donating 20% of all online orders during the crisis to The Trussell Trust who provide emergency food and support to those in need across the UK. They are also collecting sealed and unused N95 masks to re-distribute back to the NHS to help keep frontline staff safe.

Lisou. The brand will be making a donation to the Royal College of Nursing Foundation to provide hardship grants for nurses who may be unable to work themselves due to infection or whose families may fall ill. In addition to this they will be donating 20% of profits of all sales for three months from 23rd March to the RCN Foundation COVID-19 Support Fund.

Georgia Hardinge. 50% of profits from the brand's Sustainable Dazed Dresses will be donated for a two month period starting 25th March to AGE UK and their support for the elderly and vulnerable.

GUCCI. Gucci will make a donation of €2 million in support of two crowdfunding campaigns – one in Italy and the other one at a global level - to fight the Covid-19 Pandemic, calling on the #GucciCommunity. The claim 'We Are All In This Together' is the call to action that will accompany the crowdfunding campaign along with an illustration gifted by Rome-based artist MP5, depicting a person holding their hand to their heart in a symbol of solidarity. Friends and followers are invited to make a donation to the Solidarity Response Fund for WHO by clicking on the donate button on Instagram and social channels. The total amount will be matched by Facebook as part of its Matching initiative.

STAUD. The US clothing site is launching their 25% off sale online with a charitable touch. The brand will be donating 10% of all sales to St. Vincents Meals on Wheels organisation in Los Angeles to help feed the elderly during these unprecedented times and aid in supporting community efforts in the fight against COVID-19. The THANKYOU25 discount code was added to both Shopify and Zonos and works sitewide. 10% off all purchases made with this code will be donated to this amazing charity. The 25% off sitewide promotion ends 31st March at midnight.

GEOX. GEOX President Mr Polegato donates 1 million euros to Veneto Region to help manage the healthcare emergency caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Mayhoola. The umbrella company behind Valentino, Balmain and Pa Zileri is donating 2 million euros to the fight against Covid-19. This includes 1 million euros to help improve the efficiency and security if the ICU at Saccod Hospital in Milan, with the donation of a new negative pressure ventilation installation to help staff safely attend to infected patients. Mayhoola is donating another 1 million euros towards Protezione Civile Italiana in order to support the effort that they are putting forward throughout all the Italian region.

DVF. The brand is donating 10% from all orders to the World Health Organisation and the charity No Kid Hungry, which is in need of more resources due to the closure of schools across the US.

Moncler. The brand is donating 10 million euros in order to support a project promoted by the region of Lombardy for the construction of a hospital with over 400 intensive care units in the ex Fiera Milano area.

Versace. Donatella and her daughter Allegra have donated €200,000 to the intensive care department of San Raffaele hospital in Milan, to help with the overwhelming number of cases. Donatella said in a statement, 'In times like this, it is important to be united and support however we can to help all those who are in the front lines, fighting every day to save hundreds of lives'.

Giorgio Armani has donated €1.8m to hospitals in Italy to help with the outbreak. It has been distributed to three hospitals in Milan and the Spallanzani hospital in Rome, as well as to the Civil Protection Agency, a national body in Italy that deals with emergency situations.

Chité. Despite their infancy and the increasing amount of challenges the small business has encountered, Italian lingerie label Chité are doing their bit amidst the outbreak. Chité assisted influencer Chiara Ferragni to raise over 3 million euros in a fight against the coronavirus by donating 10% of their sales to their Go Fund Me campaign. This has helped fund much needed new hospital beds in the intensive care area of Milan’s San Raffaele hospital. Chité are also doing their best to bring a smile to their customers’ faces by gifting them an additional surprise set of lingerie with every purchase!

Farfetch. The global shopping destination Farfetch has announced plans to offset the carbon impact of all deliveries and returns. The new Climate Conscious Delivery service (an addition to the companies already existing 'Positively Farfetch' campaign) is powered by funding global environment projects to offset the carbon footprint of all deliveries. I think we can all agree that during this difficult time we need to champion brands making such considered choices.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.