default-output-block.skip-main
BoF Logo

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

Kering to Provide 3 Million Surgical Masks to France, Gucci Prepping to Make 1.1 Million For Italy

Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent are also prepping their French workshops for production.
A worker packs protective facemasks at a production facility | Source: Getty Images
By
  • M.C. Nanda

PARIS, France — French luxury group Kering is purchasing three million surgical masks from China to donate to the French health service, which is running low on some critical medical supplies in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kering-owned Gucci is also prepared to make over one million masks and 55,000 pairs of medical overalls in Italy upon approval from the medical authorities in that country, where, on March 22, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that all nonessential factories must shut down.

Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent, which operate factories in France, will also begin to produce masks there upon approval, complying with the "strictest protection measures" for healthcare workers.

They join other European companies that have offered up funds — or their own factories — to produce supplies needed by doctors and nurses in order to meet the growing number of coronavirus cases. On Saturday, luxury conglomerate LVMH announced that it would donate 40 million masks to France, while LVMH, L'Oréal, Coty and others are making hand sanitiser in their beauty and fragrance factories.

Kering has already made donations to hospitals across Italy struggling to control the pandemic, along with the Hubei Red Cross Foundation in China. The group has also made a financial donation of an undisclosed amount to the Pasteur Institute, a private French non-profit, to support research for Covid-19.

Related Articles:

© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions

More from Luxury
How rapid change is reshaping the tradition-soaked luxury sector in Europe and beyond.

Hermès’ elusive sales strategy is at the centre of a new legal challenge for the French luxury giant. BoF breaks down the practices under scrutiny and what the suit could mean for the fashion industry at large.



This week, Kering flagged sales were down 20 percent at its flagship brand, knocking confidence in the group’s turnaround strategy. ‘A more drastic solution is required,’ one analyst wrote.



view more

Subscribe to the BoF Daily Digest

The essential daily round-up of fashion news, analysis, and breaking news alerts.

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
CONNECT WITH US ON
BoF Professional - How to Turn Data Into Meaningful Customer Connections
© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and Accessibility Statement.
BoF Professional - How to Turn Data Into Meaningful Customer Connections