The current coronavirus pandemic has cast a dark shadow on the entire world and the leaders around the globe are in the dilemma of protecting the health of their beloved citizens and saving the economy from collapsing.
India too is facing a crisis like never before, protecting Indians from this dangerous coronavirus disease is the priority of the government but it seems that this comes with a huge opportunity cost. The Indian economy stands at stake today, with the underprivileged suffering the most.
While the government imposed a nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many companies and retailers are forced to pull their shutters down for weeks, resulting in tremendous financial losses. While the upper and middle segment is still managing to stay afloat, the lower segment is facing the worst consequences.
The textile and the apparel sector is one of the most hardest hit sectors, as clothing and accessories go out of the people’s priority list and fashion is not what people think of when it comes to their survival, therefore, people involved in the business are going through a rough time especially the small retailers and craftsmen. Understanding the depth of the situation many designers and fashion houses from the industry are taking charge to contribute to the best of the abilities and somehow pacify the ill-effects.
Anita Dongre, the founder of popular labels like AND, House of Anita Dongre among others, became the first one to initiate the move. She devoted herself to help the community by setting up a COVID-19 relief fund for all the small retailers and self-employed people in the industry. Apart from this, the designer has also committed to produce face masks for the country as long as it will be required by the nation.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the Kolkata based designers have expressed his condolence time and then and contributed an amount as huge as 10 million to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMRF) and 5 million to Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in West Bengal.
Anamika Khanna and Abu Jani became an integral part of the move by pledging to look after their workers. On the other hand, the budding designer Ridhi Mehra has collaborated with 5 NGO’s and continuously urges her consumer to contribute anything possible.
The bespoke brand, Ekaya Banaras has committed itself to assist its entire workforce at the grass-root level. Another fashion label, Karleo has adopted a unique approach by committed to producing face masks for BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) service providers but at the same time, it is encouraging men and women to work from their home to manufacture these masks, creating employment at this much needed time.
India’s two biggest fashion organizations- Fashion Design Council and Lakme Fashion also do not lag behind from fulfilling their responsibility towards the needy segment of the industry and have set up a COVID-19 relief fund for all those seeking help and assistance in managing their paused business activities.