Luxury retailers are being hit hard by Covid-19, but this has not stopped them from standing by their nation’s side. It doesn’t matter how geographically diversified a brand can be: when moments like this come, that tiny little label “Made in Italy” becomes much more than just a quality sign, it is something to fight for. And indeed, fashion icons such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Prada, seem to know this very well! From the catwalk to the battlefield, these top Italian fashion brands are making donations to fight one of the most threatening enemies of recent years.
In particular, king Giorgio has donated 1.25 million euros to The Luigi Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals in Milan, as well as the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome. The amount will additionally support the activities of Protezione Civile, the country’s civil defense. Bulgari made a donation to the research department of the Istituto Spallanzani, which allowed the hospital, specialized in infectious diseases, to purchase a microscopic image acquisition system, essential to advance the research that will lead to the prevention and treatment of the virus. The machine is valued at around 100,000 euros. The two Sicily-inspired stylists have decided to support the research led by professors Mantovani and Garlanda of the Humanitas University investigating possible solutions to fight the virus. Mr. and Mrs. Prada have donated two resuscitation and complete intensive care units to each hospital in Milan, while Donatella Versace + Family has donated €200,000 to the ICU of Milan’s San Raffaele. Moreover, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri made a personal donation of €100,000 to the Ausl IRCCS of Reggio Emilia, the entity gathering a range of eight hospitals in the Emilia Romagna region.
A great recognition must be given to the influencer-businesswoman Chiara Ferragni and her husband, the rapper Fedez for having raised more than 4 million euro in few days on behalf of Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital. The couple raised the funds through the GoFundMe campaign “Coronavirus: Rafforziamo La Terapia Intensiva”, receiving support worldwide from lots of influencers and social personalities as Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa, Bella Thorne and Mia Khalifa.
They also made a significant donation and received one by GoFundMe itself. The influencer also used her profile to increase awareness among people in Italy and abroad of this global health emergency. What can we say? With a great power comes great responsibility and Chiara Ferragni is the demonstration of how social media can be used for the most noble aims.
Meanwhile, the hashtag #IoRestoACasa (#StayAtHome) has become the guiding principle of all Italians ‘lives and every social media personality, from musicians and chefs, to beauty-gurus and coaches are trying with all their efforts to entertain their followers during these quarantine days. If you are particularly interested in a topic and would like us to write about it, do not hesitate to comment this article or send us a message on our IG page. We will try to give our contribution by taking your suggestions! After all we have very much time and fashion reading never goes out of style!
by Giuliana Madonia
