LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is the latest group to offer funds and resources in aid of Ukraine. The luxury giant said it was making “a first emergency donation” of 5 million euros to support the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC. The group said it has 150 employees in Ukraine, and is providing them with “essential financial and operational assistance.”
In addition, LVMH is launching a fundraising campaign in support of the ICRC to facilitate the contributions of its employees.
LVMH joins brands including Burberry, Kering, OTB and Valentino in the relief effort, which is gaining momentum by the hour.
Burberry said in a brief statement Wednesday that it is donating to the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal, “which is working to provide urgent aid, food, warm clothes and shelter to communities in desperate need.” The British brand will also be matching any employee donations to charities supporting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine with an equivalent donation to the appeal.
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Earlier in the day, Kering said it would make a “significant donation” to help Ukrainian people displaced by the Russian invasion.
Revealing the move on its official social channels, the French group said the monies would go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. “We hope for a peaceful resolution of this conflict,” the luxury group added in a short post on Instagram, accompanied by the word “peace” writ large and rendered in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Speaking to WWD at the Courrèges fashion show in Paris on Wednesday morning, Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault said: “The most important thing, by far, is the humanitarian situation of the refugees. So I’ve been talking with all CEOs, and we decided to make a significant donation to help the refugees as much as we can — at group level, but at the brand level also. So brands will also contribute. For us, the priority is there.”
While some applauded the move on social media, others left comments urging Kering to go further, impose embargoes on all deliveries to Russia, and close its designer boutiques in the country. Some also took issue with the use of the term conflict, and not war.
With European fashion weeks coinciding with intensifying Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, luxury brands and retailers are coming under pressure to acknowledge the war and take a stand.
On Wednesday, Chime for Change, Gucci’s longstanding global campaign advocating gender equality, said it was donating $500,000 to UNHCR to provide emergency support to refugees fleeing Ukraine.
The OTB Foundation was another early responder to the urgent appeal launched by UNHCR to support the people and families forced to flee Ukraine under the Russian attack.
The not-for-profit organization established by OTB founder Renzo Rosso in 2008 said it was difficult to determine the number of refugees, but it is estimated that more than 100,000 people have had to abandon their homes. More than 600,000 refugees have already passed the Ukraine borders seeking help in the neighboring countries.
“No war is justifiable because it impacts helpless and blameless civilians first, and the first victims are always the same, women and children,” said Arianna Alessi, vice president of the OTB Foundation.
She said the association has long collaborated with UNHCR to support refugees and displaced people from around the world, from countries such as Afghanistan and Mozambique. UNHCR, she added, “is a reference point during any international emergency with a presence that helps refugees, and knows how to move efficiently, and in a coordinated way. We are in contact with the organizations that are managing the arrival of people fleeing Ukraine” to facilitate their arrival in Italy.
The charity arm of the OTB group has supported about 250 international projects focused on social development with an impact on the lives of 250,000 people.
OTB is the parent company of brands including Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni, Jil Sander and Viktor & Rolf.
Italy’s Camera della Moda on Wednesday also said it was participating to the UNHCR initiative, devolving contributions received to stage presentations and fashion shows at the location it rents during Milan Fashion Week, which closed on Monday. The country’s fashion association has worked with UNHCR on several occasions in the past, recently completing the “Fashion Deserves the World” project, aimed at helping international migrants and refugees build a career in Italy’s fashion industry.
“Fashion builds bridges, promotes union between people and cultural exchange and spreads values of inclusion,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Camera. “In these days of international crisis, it is important to remember how each of us can contribute to building a better world and a sustainable and supportive future. Our attention is focused on all the people who are suffering.”
The collection of funds will be open to all fashion brands and trade associations and will be channeled in the most immediate form of aid, such as cash-based assistance together with goods, both for Ukraine and the neighboring countries, including Moldavia and Romania; goods such as blankets, mats for sleeping, tents for families, kits for the winter, sleeping bags, cans of water, articles for health and hygiene, kits for children and solar-powered lamps.
Valentino also joined forces with Camera della Moda by donating 500,000 euros to UNHCR to contribute in supporting thousands of people in need of protection and assistance through humanitarian actions.
As reported, the Italian fashion industry is backing the sanctions against Russia to be enforced by the country’s government.
In Milan, designer Giorgio Armani unveiled his signature collection without music due to the “unfolding tragedy” in Ukraine, while Ralph Toledano, president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, urged attendees of Paris Fashion Week to “experience the shows of the coming days with solemnity, and in reflection of these dark hours.”
Earlier this week, Vogue Ukraine urged major fashion companies to place an embargo on Russia as the country continues its military aggression.
It had been thought that the latest round of sanctions might include luxury goods, but so far the sector has not been included. Italian luxury goods exports to Russia top 1 billion euros annually. However, the Italian industry has denied reports that it is seeking an exemption from any possible sanctions, saying it fully supports any measures taken against Russia.