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EPISODE 117 LOOKS AT HOW THE FASHION INDUSTRY IS STEPPING UP TO PROVIDE MUCH-NEEDED PPE

The second of our special COVID-19 reports looks at how designers, makers and manufacturers are responding to shortages personal protective equipment, scrubs for frontline workers, and masks for all.

What is PPE? Why are there shortages? How have designers, insiders and activists around the world stepped up to produce it?

Featuring Emergency Designer Network, Masks for Humanity, PPE Volunteer, and more.

cast

In order of appearance:

TIMO RISSANEN is a fashion academic, most recently Associate Professor of Fashion Design and Sustainability at Parsons. He is a founding member of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion. We featured him in Episode 2.

JAYNA ZWEIMAN is a multi-disciplinary artist with a background in architecture. In November 2016, she co-founded the Pussyhat Project with Krista Suh, in response to the Women’s March on Washington. You can the inspiring story in Chapter 1 of Clare’s book: Rise & Resist, How to Change the World. Jayna set up Masks for Humanity in response to the shortage of PPE in the US.

SHIBON KENNEDY is a New York-based creative consultant, fashion editor-at-large of The FADER magazine, and founder of PPE Volunteer.

ALEKSANDRA NEDELJKOVIC runs The Social Studio - a Melbourne-based a fashion school, manufacturing hub, clothing label and retail store. A social enterprise, they focus on training and providing job opportunities for new migrant and refugee communities. In March 2020 they started sewing hospital scrubs.

HOLLY FULTON is a London-based, Scottish designer known for her focus on detail and craftsmanship. With Phoebe, menswear designer Bethany Williams and PR powerhouse Cozette McCreery, she co-founded the UK’s Emergency Designer Network.

PHOEBE ENGLISH is the designer behind an eponymous women and menswear label founded in 2011. A leading light in the British sustainable fashion movement, Phoebe founded the WhatsApp group Fashion On Earth. In June 2019, she was invited to speak at Glastonbury about her community building efforts.

notes

By Claire Kalikman

PPE VOLUNTEER or COVID EMERGENCY PPE + SUPPLIES VOLUNTEER INITIATIVE* was started by Shibon Kennedy in New York City to pool together collective networks and resources to aid in an urgent need.

The EMERGENCY DESIGNER NETWORK was founded at the end of March 2020 with the aim of connecting London designers looking to make PPE, and to combine their response efforts. A few weeks later there were over 50 people, companies and organisations, including Katharine Hamnett, Roland Mouret, and Derbyshire knitwear company John Smedley, taking part across the UK. Read the story in the Guardian here. Donate here.

Can you sew? Join MASKS FOR HUMANITY here. Sometimes they meet up on Zoom.

REQUIREMENTS Holding your breath is no substitute for PPE. Detailed information on exactly what constitutes Protective Personal Equipment, and who should wear it can be found here. Many doctors and nurses have commented on how shortages of PPE are putting their lives at risk. Read their stories here and here. As Jayna Zweiman mentions on the podcast, in response to shortages in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised that healthcare workers should use bandanas if masks weren’t available. More here. That advice, however, has since been updated.

WHY THE SHORTAGE? The shortage of masks in particular in affected countries has been caused by hugely increased demand and limited supply. China, which was first to face the virus, produces half of the world’s masks. Who can blame them for wanting to keep these resources for themselves? Controversy here.

NATIONAL STOCKPILES In the US, the national stockpile of PPE has nearly run out. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, prompted controversy for claiming that said the stockpile was “supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.” Read more here.

THE SCRAMBLE TO ORDER The problem of too few supplies has been exacerbated by competing orders. In the United States, state governments have been bidding against the federal government to try to procure supplies . Read more here.

NEW RULES Several countries across Europe have implemented new rules about wearing face masks in certain public areas and situations. Rules vary by country, often enforced by fines. There is still confusion over who should wear masks. Some say that everyone should wear them in public, to protect others. But official WHO advice maintains that wearing masks, alone, does not protect against getting the virus. It may even be counterproductive - it’s thought that masks may encourage people to touch their face more frequently. Official advice here,

In most countries N95 masks, which filter airborne particles, are being reserved for healthcare workers. Those not on the front lines must make do with lower grade masks, or coverings fashioned from scarves or fabric. Hence the surge in demand, and fashion / crafters responding. More here.

MAKING EFFECTIVE PPE The Australian Fashion Council has collated info for Aussie businesses here. In the UK? This resource from the British Textile Consortium is useful.

CASHING IN? Of course, when people start wearing a new item of clothing, fashion retailers rush to supply it. Not everyone feels comfortable with the idea of PPE inspiring the newest fashion statement. But the interest is clearly there. According to Lyst, searches for masks grew by 496% in the first quarter of 2020. Off-White’s logo-ed versions swiftly sold out. Meanwhile, Boohoo was selling fast fashion face masks bearing phrases such as ‘Quarantine Queen’ - the backlash was just as swift. What do you think?

MUSIC is by Montaigne, who sang this special acoustic version of “Because I love You” from her album Glorious Heights, just for us.

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Clare & the Wardrobe Crisis team x