What the Fashion Community is Doing to Help Those In Need

The fashion industry is an easy mark. Often picked on for being myopic in addressing social responsibilities, it’s the poster-industry of consumerism; frivolous, superficial and fleeting. Yet, this ‘frivolous’ fashion industry—as part of the larger textiles and apparel sector—is our nation’s second largest employer after agriculture. In the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Indian fashion community is stepping up collectively, opening its funds and arms for an #InThisTogether embrace. 

Sabyasachi Mukherjee announced a multi-pronged approach: to shut down every single one of his factories and sending his staff home on paid leave; and donating R10 crore of personal funds to the Prime Minister’s relief fund (PMNRF), and INR5crore to the Chief Minister of West Bengal’s relief fund to ramp up medical facilities in India. 

 

“It was an emotional decision, honestly,” says Anita Dongre. “To keep my House together and take care of my family.” On March 22, Dongre announced a medical fund of INR1.5crore to support her company’s smaller vendors, self-employed artisans, and partners who do not have access to medical insurance or coverage. “My brother Mukesh [Sawlani], who is also my business partner, came up with this idea to help artisans, especially those who work from villages and have no access to resources. We’ve created a team internally to ensure the proper disbursal of this fund,” informs Anita. 

In Bengaluru, K Radharaman of House of Angadi has resolved to provide 100 percent wage support to the brand’s weavers and craftspeople based in Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, and Arni village and Kotah, both in Rajasthan. “Through our local public representatives, we’ve offered our services to the government of Karnataka to stitch masks at no cost,” adds K Radharaman. 

 

The biggest names in luxury fashion—LVMH, Prada, Chanel, Ralph Lauren and Kering-owned Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga—have pledged to produce N95 face masks for healthcare workers. In India, clothing label Limerick is donating 3000 surgical masks to Kasturba Gandhi Hospital in Mumbai. “My husband Abirr, the label’s business head, has a separate company that produces disposal surgical face masks. We use fabrics sourced from certified manufacturers, with a bacteria filtration efficiency of 95 to 98 percent,” says Nanki Maggo Papneja, Creative Head, Limerick. Pallavi Mohan of Not So Serious supplied 25,000 masks to the health workers, but her production hit a pause after she ran out of filters. Pallavi hopes to start production as soon as she procures filters to meet the outsize demands.  

A surgical mask by Limerick

Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI)—the apex body of Indian designers, and organisers of the bi-annual India Fashion Week in New Delhi—is ramping up efforts to relieve some damage with the COVID-19 Support Fund (CSF). The campaign that’s built around providing financial assistance to small businesses and young designers in need, has also found backing from Lakmé Fashion Week—a parallel fashion week platform held in Mumbai. “We, as a fraternity, are what we are because of each one of our designers; their passion is our driving force and with a little support we can lend them some strength to spring back on their feet sooner than later,” reads a note by Sunil Sethi, chairman, FDCI, on the organisation’s website. 

The impact of the coronavirus is a two-part crisis; the designers are at risk of financial strain, while the livelihood of kaarigars faces an irreparable loss. “A large percentage of our craftspeople are migrant workers, and they are scared. We have assured them of fair salaries so they can take care of their families,” says Sandeep Khosla of Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. The eponymous brand, known for its exquisite Chikankari, provides sustainable employment to over 2.5 lakh women in and around Lucknow. “Now is the time to rethink, recharge, and focus. My day begins at 6am and ends at 4am; it is spent between talking to my staff on the phone, assuring them of support, and planning next steps to ensure sales so we can continue to manage funds,” shares Sandeep.

 

“We are in a humanitarian crisis,” stresses Gaurav Gupta. From assuring his staff including tailors of their salaries, the designer is also lending his voice to speak on behalf of the millions of daily wage workers in India, who are suddenly jobless, without any source of income and food for themselves and their families. His personal and brand social media handles are committed to raising awareness and funds towards The National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI). “The NRAI is working towards cooking and distributing meals to the needy during this lockdown. In Delhi alone, they are feeding 15 lakh people daily. We all must donate whatever we can towards each of these meals, which cost INR18, from making to delivering,” Gaurav says.