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Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and H&M to produce surgical masks in the fight against coronavirus



Fashion brands Balenciaga and Saint Laurent are to manufacture surgical masks, luxury fashion company Kering has said.

As France continues to fight the spread of coronavirus, the group will pivot workshops in the cities of Angers and Paris to be able to produce masks, a Kering spokeswoman told Bloomberg.

Kering, which is also parent company to Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta, has promised to kick off production as soon as the relevant authorities have approved the manufacturing process and materials. 


In the meantime the Paris-based company also plans to provide the French health service with three million surgical masks, which the group will purchase and import from China. 

The French health ministry announced Sunday that the epidemic was “continuing to spread and to worsen.” There were 16,018 confirmed coronavirus cases and 674 deaths in the country nearly a week after it imposed a lockdown for citizens.”

With a view to providing a lasting response to the current pandemic, Kering has made a financial donation to the Institut Pasteur to support its research into Covid-19. 

Just last week, Kering-owned Gucci responded to a call to fashion companies from the Regione Toscana for surgical masks and medical overalls, and hopes to donate 1,100,000 surgical masks and 55,000 medical overalls in the coming weeks.

This morning H&M also announced it is rushing to organise for its supply chain to produce personal protective equipment to be provided to hospitals and health care workers, in order to start delivering as soon as possible.

After CEO Helena Helmersson reached out to the EU to understand the needs and to offer the company’s help, H&M Group immediately started to prepare production of personal protective equipment for healthcare providers.

We see this is as a first step in our efforts to support in any way we can,” said Anna Gedda, Head of Sustainability H&M Group. “We are all in this together, and have to approach this as collectively as possible.

Last week LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Moet & Chandon, announced it was to repurpose its fragrance factories to produce hand sanitiser gel



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