Who Made My PPE? Behind-the-Scenes of Gildan’s Mask and Gown Production During COVID-19

Every year on the same week, Fashion Revolution invites brands and consumers around the world to join a global conversation about supply chain transparency through their recognizable #whomademyclothes? campaign. With this simple question, Fashion Revolution has created a powerful message that calls for brands to put people at the center of their business model while challenging consumers to be curious about the people who make their clothes.

For the last four years, Gildan has participated in this campaign and featured many of its employees making apparel inside its company-owned facilities. This year, however, the context is different: As the world fights the COVID-19 pandemic, Gildan has decided to leverage some of its manufacturing facilities to produce non-medical face masks and isolation gowns to help lessen the growing shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Gildan won’t be showing viewers who made their clothes; rather, they will be showing them who made their PPE.

 “We are proud to join and support the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic” says Claudia Sandoval, Vice-President of Corporate Citizenship at Gildan. “The health and safety of our employees coming back to work is a top priority, so we have mobilized a team of experts to develop and implement stringent processes to protect our workers. All of this will proceed with the support of our onsite medical team of doctors and nurses as well as under a strict biosecurity protocol, which was developed following government mandated guidelines and industry best practices. This includes medical screening, proper hygiene education, social distancing measures in the facilities and in the cafeteria, and more”, she added.

Gildan’s 2020 #whomademyclothes campaign will highlight and honour their frontline workers who have decided, despite these uncertain times, to come back to work and help global efforts to lessen the shortage of PPE.  “Through this campaign, we celebrate their courage, resilience and hard work during this global crisis”, says Sandoval.

Starting on April 20^th, Gildan will share on its social media channels the portraits of some of their employees as they manufacture masks and gowns. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to meet the people behind your PPE.