Queen Elizabeth's Fashion Designer Is Making Scrubs To Aid Health Workers Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Apr 14, 2020 by apost team

One of Queen Elizabeth’s dressmakers, Stewart Parvin, announced on Twitter early this month that he would be making scrubs for NHS workers in the midst of the novel coronavirus crisis. The fashion designer also encouraged others — from home sewers to other designers — to join in on the effort.

According to Hello Magazine, Parvin’s boutique closed its doors due to the outbreak on March 24, writing: "We will continue to bring you images of our beautiful Spring/Summer Couture Womenswear Collection during this uncertain time [...] We hope everyone remains safe during this time.”

Around two weeks later, Parvin announced the move to make scrubs for British healthcare workers on Twitter, noting that the fashion house had received fabric donations and volunteer help to produce the healthcare garments for Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, England, according to Hello Magazine.

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Following his apprenticeship with designer Donald Campbell, Parvin launched his own collection in 1995 and opened his first London boutique. A bit more than a decade later, Parvin began designing clothes for the Queen in 2007. Since then, the Queen has rewarded the designer for his service to the crown with the Royal Victorian Order in March 2016.

But given that Queen Elizabeth is self isolating at Windsor Castle, and the fact that royal events like the Trooping the Colour Parade and the Royal Ascot have been cancelled in the wake of the global health crisis, according to Town and Country, Parvin likely isn’t designing much for the Queen, which is sure to leave him and his staff extra time to help produce garments for healthcare workers on the front lines.

Due to the global shortage of healthcare supplies, other companies have also transitioned their production lines to help make ventilators, masks, gowns and sanitizer products. The vacuum company Dyson announced that it would produce 10,000 ventilators for the UK while also donating another 5,000 to other countries who are faced by shortages, according to Business Insider. "This new device can be manufactured quickly, efficiently, and at volume," Dyson wrote in a statement.

Similarly, General Motors in the U.S. is partnering with Ventec Life Systems at GM’s Kokoma, Indiana plant with the goal of producing more than 50,000 face masks a day, according to Business Insider. "Ventec and GM are poised to deliver the first ventilators next month and ramp up to a manufacturing capacity of more than 10,000 critical care ventilators per month with the infrastructure and capability to scale further," the companies said in a statement.

Other companies that have announced transitioning their manufacturing processes to help out include Apple, which has pledged to donate 20 million masks, Tesla, Ford, General Electric, Inditex, LVMH and Unilever. And much like Parvin, American fashion designers Brandon Maxwell and Christian Siriano are also using their staff to help make masks and protective gowns, producing over 1,000 masks in three days, according to Business Insider. 

Have businesses in your community contributed to help healthcare workers on the frontlines? Do you know other fashion designers who are making healthcare garments? Let us know and pass this uplifting story on to friends and family members.