Luxury brands join the fight against Covid-19 as retailers use their factories to churn out medical supplies

Prada, LVMH, Inditex and other retailers use their facilities to make masks, surgical gowns, hand sanitiser and other medical gear to help fight the coronavirus

Chinese companies that supply foreign retailers are forced to close their factories after orders are cancelled in view of falling demand

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LVMH, parent of Louis Vuitton, Dior, Marc Jacobs, Givenchy and Celine, has also directed its perfume and make-up facilities in France to produce hydroalcoholic gel, which it plans to donate. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 4:00pm, 24 Mar 2020Updated: 9:15am, 25 Mar 2020

Foreign retailers, including several luxury brands, are suspending normal production of apparel and accessories and diverting resources to make health care products, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread rapidly worldwide. Some of the temporary freeze in orders is increasingly weighing on Chinese suppliers.

Good Will Watch Case, a contract manufacturer based in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, said it would close its factory for three months after its largest client, Fossil Group, cancelled or suspended all orders until further notice as demand for watches and accessories plummets, according to an announcement seen by the Post dated Saturday.

“Covid-19 is having an unprecedented impact on global markets. In common with many other businesses, Fossil Group is adjusting its order portfolio to better match the supply of products to meet the reduction in consumer demand,” the Nasdaq-listed company said in an emailed statement.

The Texas-headquartered company is among hundreds of retailers that have temporarily suspended operations in most parts of the world, as countries enforce stringent lockdown measures to contain the deadly respiratory disease. The pandemic, which has killed more than 16,000 people and infected at least 360,000 as of Tuesday, is expected to cause billions of dollars in losses for luxury and fashion brands.

An aerial photo taken on March 17, 2020, shows chartered buses waiting for migrant workers in Xiaogan, Hubei province. More than 500 workers left Xiaogan city for Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan respectively by chartered coaches as companies resume operations as authorities relax curbs imposed after the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Xinhua

Meanwhile, luxury brands are pitching in to fight the contagion and starting to make health care products that are in short supply, such as masks, surgical gowns, hydroalcoholic gel and hand sanitiser.

On Monday, New York mayor Bill Blasio said the epidemic in the city is expected to worsen, and the shortage of medical supplies will only exacerbate the situation.