Amidst the international pandemic of Covid-19, the world is facing a shortage of masks and medical equipment.

To help with this global shortage, fast fashion and luxury fashion labels have stepped up to produce masks, hand sanitisers, medical wear and more for patients and healthcare workers.

Here are some of them.

LVMH

LVMH is the French luxury powerhouse that is responsible for brands like Givenchy, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Dior.

According to a press release on March 21, LVMH has ordered 40 million FFP2 and surgical masks from China to address the mask shortage France is currently facing.

A week earlier, on March 15, Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of LVMH, also instructed the company to begin manufacturing hand sanitisers at its perfume and cosmetics factories.

Kering

Like LVMH, Kering is the luxury conglomerate that is responsible for brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci and Balenciaga.

According to a press release on March 22, Kering will provide the French health service with three million surgical masks, which the group will purchase and import from China.

Meanwhile, the French workshops of Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent are preparing to manufacture masks, with production getting underway as soon as the manufacturing process and materials have been approved by the relevant authorities.

Similarly, Gucci has responded to a call from the Regione Toscana for surgical masks and medical overalls, and could possibly donate 1.1 million surgical masks and 55,000 medical overalls in the coming weeks, subject to relevant authorisations.

Prada

Italy is one of the most affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak.

On March 23, Prada announced that it has started the production of 80,000 medical overalls and 110,000 masks after a call was made from the region of Tuscany.

The manufacturing of these masks and medical equipment will be overseen at the Prada factory in Montone (Perugia), with an aim for daily deliveries to healthcare personnel to be made by April 6.

The Armani Group

On March 28, Giorgio Armani announced in a Facebook post that all of The Armani Group's production plants in Italy will switch to manufacturing single-use medical overalls for frontline healthcare workers.

Inditex

Spain has the third highest number of Covid-19 cases after the U.S. and Italy.

Inditex, the parent company of Spanish label Zara, has announced that it is converting its factories to make masks for patients and healthcare officials in Spain, Business Insider reports.

They are also looking into producing hospital gowns as well.

H&M Group

In a news release on March 22, H&M Group said that it is quickly arranging for its supply chain to produce personal protective equipment for hospitals and healthcare workers.

The company said that it would utilise its supply chain capacity, including its widespread purchasing operations and logistics capabilities, in order to start delivering as soon as possible.

The company’s supply chain teams around the world are now collectively supporting in these initial efforts to support countries and communities worldwide.

Fast Retailing

UNIQLO's parent company, Fast Retailing, is donating 10 million masks to medical institutions worldwide and in Japan.

The company has enlisted partners in China to produce these masks, most of which will be sent out to "high-priority medical facilities in Japan."

They are also donating one million masks to countries who are badly affected by the coronavirus, such as the U.S. and Italy.

New Balance

In an Instagram post on March 28, New Balance announced that their U.S. factories are working to develop, manufacture and deliver facial masks to the hospital community.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-QcLfKlTu3/

According to their website, they are producing prototypes for face masks in their Lawrence, Massachusetts manufacturing facility and hope to scale production using their other New England factories soon.

Top image via newbalance on Instagram and Aleksandra Rupar on Unsplash