These Design Companies Are Helping With Coronavirus Relief Efforts In Big Ways
Source: Architectural Digest, Madeleine Luckel, Hannah Martin, Katherine Burns Olson, and Carly Olson
Photo: A set of Eskayel masks. (Courtesy of Eskayel)
Factories everywhere are springing into action as others look to donate funds
As charity sales and auctions are staged, fashion companies like Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, and Tiffany & Co. take action, Housing Works steps up, and Salone del Mobile makes its own major donation, a range of brands are pivoting their production efforts to focus on making healthcare equipment to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Decorative fabrics company Pindler is making masks for healthcare workers from its stockpile, while Perennials Fabrics is using unfinished textiles to make mask covers designed to be worn over N95 masks at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. Elsewhere, Holly Hunt is working with a local Chicago drapery studio to make masks out of their own fabrics, while Rough Linen is sewing masks out of its linen sheeting designed to specifications provided by Kaiser Permanente. The company is also offering complimentary linen to the hospital’s own team of volunteer sewers.
Mattress brands are also stepping up to the challenge, with Leesa producing and distributing emergency beds—in under a week—to hospitals throughout the U.S. Eco-friendly company Avocado is repurposing part of its sewing department to produce face masks, which will be made and sold at cost. What is more, Avocado is spreading the word to hospitals about its production capabilities, including temporary mattresses, reusable sheeting, pillows, and protective garb—just as Naturepedic begins to makes organic face masks. And last but certainly not least, interior designers such as Mark D. Sikes and Sheila Bridges took to Instagram to document particularly beautiful efforts. Below, AD PRO rounds up additional examples of design companies working to help mitigate the COVID-19 crisis.
Baker Furniture
Baker is using some of its signature fabrics to help make second layer masks to be worn over N95s. Baker president Mike Jolly said in a statement, “As a furniture company with a local factory and deep roots in the North Carolina community, we feel it is our duty to use our resources to address the urgent need for face masks and hospital gowns. We have mobilized our staff in a safe, clean environment, shifting production to design and produce PPE to protect and support frontline workers who are in dire need of these essential supplies.”
CannonDesign
Design firm CannonDesign is taking action in multiple ways. They created an easy-to-sew pattern, which they also used to create hundreds of their own masks that they’ve since donated. An architect at the firm has also been looking into alternative options to drive-through testing in more urban areas, while clients Blue Cottage and FOS are offering their services free of charge to help hospitals reconfigure their floor-plans in order to maximize space.
Ceramics of Italy
As Italy continues to be hit incredibly hard by the coronavirus crisis, some of its design companies are looking to help. Ceramics of Italy has donated almost $220,000 to the Sassuolo Hospital Foundation and to hospitals within hard-hit Reggio Emilia province. The money is meant to go towards the purchase of additional ICU beds.
Cerno
Cerno, a Southern Californian company that makes modern light fixes, has flipped its switch—but in a good way. Co-founders Daniel Wacholder, Nick Sheridan, and Bret Englander are now producing face shields for local hospitals. “Daniel spearheaded this effort, but without the help of so many people jumping in to assist, it would not have been possible,” Englander said in a statement. “We realize that our contribution to this global crisis is small, but we hope that it inspires many more small manufacturers around the county to help where they can, and the collective effort makes a real impact.”
Ducduc and The New Traditionalists
These two brands are offering countless ways to help. As writer David Sokol recently wrote in AD PRO, “Philip Erdoes, founder and owner of furniture brands Ducduc and The New Traditionalists, has retooled his Torrington, Connecticut factory to produce 300 non-N95 masks daily as well as hospital gowns for donation to local hospitals and daycare centers; he plans to expand production to include hospital beds, daycare furniture, and other larger items that can be manufactured with antimicrobial finishes and veneers that can be cleaned using appropriate disinfectants.”
EDG
EDG, the architecture and engineering firm, is currently focused on making 3D-printed protective masks in New York. Their first finished batch—of 275 masks—went to Weill Cornell Medical.
EJ Victor
EJ Victor’s CFO and COO announced that the company is taking a five-pronged plan to help make supplies needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Their North Carolina factory is producing covers to help extend the lives of N95 masks, disposable gowns made from surgical-grade paper, prototypes of easily assembled cots, and cotton masks to be used in non-hospital settings. Lastly, EJ Victor is working with The Industrial Commons and The Carolina Textile District to identify skilled sewers to help produce additional supplies, and giving up a portion of their factory space to help with distribution efforts.
Eskayel
Eskayel’s watery patterns have been desirable for years, and now, they’re designs consumers can wear as well. The brand is selling fabric masks made out of their popular textiles through their website. Priced at $37 for a set of five, the masks work well for average civilian use. The best part? Profits from the sales are being donated to Direct Relief. As of now, the efforts have resulted in $2,500 being raised for the non-profit, while helping to keep manufacturing work going for 17 employees. Currently, the masks are available to ship within six business days.
HBF and HBF Textiles
HBF and HBF Textiles, a furniture and fabrics manufacturer based in Hickory, North Carolina, is using its factories in Hickory, Iowa, and New York to make personal protective equipment to donate to first responders, healthcare systems, and hospitals in the Hickory area. On their new list of offerings are washable cloth masks (to save surgical masks and N-95s for healthcare workers), mask covers which can be used to extend the life of N-95 respirators, and protective gowns.
Louis Poulsen
Louis Poulsen, the Danish lighting brand behind iconic fixtures such as Arne Jacobsen’s Artichoke Lamp, is doing its part to help in Weston, Florida, the location of its U.S. headquarters. The design brand is donating 1,000 KN95 face masks to the nearby Cleveland Clinic Weston to be used by healthcare professionals and first responders. “Since its inception, Louis Poulsen has always sought to design lighting and enhance lives,” Kent Pedersen, president and CEO of Louis Poulsen USA, said in a release. “This meaningful donation is an extension of our philosophy and aims to save human lives.”
Matouk
Fine linen and bedding company Matouk is trying to act fast to aid those in need. As creative director Mindy Matouk recently told AD PRO, “Our immediate goal was to donate bedding and towels to temporary hospitals and shelters that were being set up to accommodate COVID-19 patients, or those impacted by it. But as the need for sanitary face masks and other personal protective equipment quickly escalated to a crisis, we realized that we could shift our manufacturing to supply these, as well.”
Pepper Home
Fabric and decor brand Pepper Home has rolled out a mask donation program, where supporters can give as little as $25 to purchase protective masks that go directly to a vetted list of organizations in need. Pepper Home founders Erin Banta and Kelsey Brown realized they could use their existing cotton fabric to create masks based on hospital guidelines, and crowdsource donations. The company directly connected with hospitals, shelters, and nursing homes throughout the country who confirmed their need for the masks, and donors have an option to choose which organization to support. Though the country is experiencing a shortage of N95 masks—which provide better filtration of airborne particles—all masks are in short supply at hospitals, shelters, and nursing homes. When Banta called one hospital and found that some nurses were forced to buy handkerchiefs as protective gear, she knew she needed to take action. Banta says, “We are focusing on getting these goods to those people specifically.”
Standard Textile
The company recently has shifted its production to ramp up the numbers of completed gowns, face masks, and face shields. As their Texas factory focuses on masks, other employees are churning out face shields. And in Georgia and South Carolina, Standard Textile is conducting research on a novel way to create liquid-resistant and reusable gowns. Gary Heiman, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement: “Our healthcare customers are on the front line of treating patients and saving lives, and we’re relentlessly working to ensure our customers and our communities have continuous access to essential supplies needed to safeguard the health of clinicians, patients, and their families.”
Studio Den Den
While RISD alums aren’t exactly their own company, they do make up an impressive network. The venerable art school’s former students have in many cases banded together to help produce PPE. Of particular note, George Coffin and Jillian Wiedenmayer of Studio Den Den are organizing a GoFundMe campaign in order to make 3D-printed face shields for New York City health care providers. Coffin and Wiedenmaye have joined forces with Rachel Paupeck, the principal of Montgomery, and industrial designer Josh Linder-Haber, as well. Paupeck and Linder-Haber also spent years studying at the Providence, Rhode Island institution.
Thomas Hayes Studio
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in the U.S., Thomas Hayes Studio has been taking action. When approached by a friend who is the head doctor of a respiratory intensive care unit, the designer and his family began making reusable masks—based on a design from Johns Hopkins University—and delivering them to caregivers in need. So far, Hayes has spent around $2,500 out of pocket to deliver over 1,000 masks to healthcare professionals across the country, from Boston to New York to Los Angeles. For those who wish to contribute, Hayes has set up a GoFundMe to crowdsource donations.
Woodard Furniture
Woodard Furniture is taking a uniquely collaborative approach to the problem, thanks to help from Schumacher and Kravet. As AD PRO previously reported, “Woodard revealed that it had converted part of its Owosso, Michigan production facility to manufacture non-N95 face masks for medical professionals, first responders, and patients. Renowned textile companies Schumacher and Kravet have both donated 600 yards and 500 yards, respectively, of tightly woven cotton to the Michigan facility to help out with the efforts. Another 500 yards from Kravet was already on-site, and the company has found many yards of elastic to use as well.”