Photo by GION Studio

When Kikka Hanazawa (MBA 2002), CEO of VPL, a women’s underwear and athleisure company, heard stories of the shortages of personal protective equipment for front-line medical workers faced with the coronavirus crisis, the fashion-industry leader began to research the breakdown in the medical-gown supply chain. The gowns were produced by a tight circle of manufacturers that had begun to shut down as a result of COVID-19. “The system works very well when the demand is stable,” notes Hanazawa. It was clear, however, that the supply chain was anything but stable at the moment.

So in March 2020, Hanazawa, who also founded Fashion Girls for Humanity (FGFH), a nonprofit that provides humanitarian services and funds to victims of natural disasters, began to study a medical gown given to her by a friend in the medical profession. She broke it down, rebuilt it, and put all of the information—from material to construction—in a YouTube video, in hopes she could rally her fashion-industry network. The video went viral with 170,000 views, from 170 countries; and just like that, medical-gown production became homegrown.

As the video took off, FGFH partnered with Humans from Home, a nonprofit established to mobilize the American workforce quarantined at home, and began offering their MadeByUS kits that include everything—from assembly instructions to precut gown panels—for anyone with a sewing machine and knowledge of fabric patterns who was willing to help communities in need. FGFH also began raising funds to support small businesses within the fashion and garment industries that pivoted their manufacturing to create personal protective equipment and partnered with The RealReal, an e-commerce site for pre-owned luxury items, to sell face masks made by designers.

FGFH now also hopes big-name fashion icons and brands will expand their impact by doing what they do best: setting trends and making masks “cool.” VPL launched a mask line using kimono fabric Hanazawa had inherited from her family business in Japan. Louis Vuitton created a line, and Christian Siriano has done the same. “I'm hoping that fashion has a role in inspiring people. Great designs can do that,” says Hanazawa.

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