Burberry Devotes Its Yorkshire Factory To Making Hospital Gowns And Masks Instead Of Trench Coats

While the Covid-19 pandemic is transforming the nature of the fashion industry, key designers are doing more than their fair share to help combat the virus – from Prada donating six intensive care units to hospitals in Milan to LVMH repurposing perfume factories to make much-needed hand sanitiser. Now, Burberry has announced a series of remarkable philanthropic measures. Not only will the British house use its global supply network to deliver 100,000 surgical masks to NHS workers, it’s also dedicating its trench coat factory in Yorkshire to manufacturing non-surgical gowns and masks for patients in British hospitals.

Meanwhile, the heritage brand has committed to funding research for a single-dose vaccine, currently underway at the University of Oxford. “The university has one of the world’s best track records in emergency vaccine development, and its Covid-19 vaccine is on course to begin human trials next month,” reads a post on the house’s Instagram page.

No less important? The brand’s promise to help tackle food poverty across the UK, which has been seriously worsened by the Covid-19 crisis. Burberry plans to work closely with initiatives such as FareShare and The Felix Project to “expand their effort to help those struggling as a result of the coronavirus outbreak”. It’s a heartwarming decision – not least for the brand’s chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci. “I am so incredibly proud to be part of the amazing @Burberry family as we work to support our communities in this tough time – together we will get through this!” he wrote in an emotional post on social media.