Coronavirus: What luxury brands Gucci, Cartier, Hermès and Dior and others are doing to fight the deadly outbreak
French luxury house LVMH – owner of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co. and Moët & Chandon – stepped up with a donation of US$2.2 million to the Red Cross Society of China, but what have other luxury houses done to help victims of the Wuhan-born outbreak?
The coronavirus outbreak in China has brought the world’s second largest economy to a low ebb, causing a national panic, with stocks plunging to the lowest since 2015. Wuhan, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak, has suffered the worst, with the number of people being affected still rising.
As cases continue climbing, medical experts say the turning point is yet to come. Fighting the epidemic remains the nation’s top priority, President Xi Jinping has personally stated.
The month-long battle has made the passing Lunar New Year – a time that usually tops the chart of luxury goods sales performance – a quiet one. China is widely known as the bread and butter of the world’s luxury industry, contributing one-third of global spending.
On January 27, LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate and owner of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., Moët & Chandon and hotel chain Belmond, announced a donation of 16 million yuan (US$2.2 million) to The Red Cross Society of China to ease the Wuhan crisis.
More luxury brands have now joined LVMH and other Chinese companies like Wanda and Alibaba in donating money to help fight the virus.
Swiss luxury enterprise Richemont, which owns a portfolio of leading watch and jewellery brands from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels to fashion labels Chloe and Dunhill, donated 10 million yuan.
Kering, the mother ship of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta and Boucheron has written a cheque for 7.5 million yuan.
