Fashion Brands Are Letting WHO Take Over Their Instagrams

In addition to large-scale contributions to COVID-19 relief organisations, Gucci and H&M are now donating their social media accounts to world health organisations in need of bigger, more influential platforms with larger reach.

Today, the World Health Organisation (WHO) will take over Gucci’s Instagram — which boasts 40 million followers — as well as the brand’s other social media channels. During the takeover, WHO will share official public service information, including methods for protecting the health, safety, and well-being of the global community, Dazed reports. “This pandemic calls us to an unexpected task, but it is a call to which we respond decisively, advocating the selfless work carried out by health workers, doctors, and nurses on the front lines every day in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Creative Director Alessandro Michele wrote in a letter co-signed by Gucci’s President and CEO Marco Bizzarri.

Similarly, H&M freed up its accounts for any organisation looking to utilise its global social media reach of 120 million people. “The current situation is affecting each and every one of us, and like many other organisations, we are doing our best to help,” says Sara Spännar, Head of Marketing and Communication at H&M. “Opening up our social media channels and letting aid organisations utilise our reach is one way we can contribute.” The brand has 35.1 million followers on Instagram, 8.3 million followers on Twitter account, and more on each country’s individual platforms.

Earlier this week, Kering Group, the parent company to Gucci, Balenciaga, and Saint Laurent, announced plans to purchase and donate three million surgical-grade face masks from a CDC-approved manufacturer in China. Kering’s donation will go directly to the French health service. Gucci, on its own, will temporarily halt production on fashion to instead produce one million face masks and 55,000 medical gowns for hospitals around its home country of Italy. The Milan-based label also announced a donation of 2 million euros to help fight the effects of COVID-19. 

A week prior, Stockholm-based fashion brand H&M pledged around £400,000 to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, a reserve established to aid in the World Health Organisation’s efforts to “track and understand the spread of the virus, ensure patients get the care they need, frontline workers get essential supplies and information, and accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments,” according to H&M’s website. The brand will also begin producing PPE products to be distributed to healthcare workers and hospitals worldwide. 

Keep an eye out for instructions on both of the brands’ social media platforms to see how you too can aid in coronavirus relief efforts.