Versace, Jimmy Choo And Michael Kors Parent Company To Donate Designer Goods To Ukrainian War Victims

Global fashion luxury group Capri Holdings Limited (NYSE:CPRI) announced they would donate over 1 million euros worth of essential clothing needs such as coats, sweaters, and shoes from the group’s prestigious brands—Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors—through the company’s distribution center located in Venlo, Netherlands. The initiative is to help the mainly female war refugees who are displaced and moving throughout Europe in search of housing and work and often traveling only with a backpack.

The group teamed up with an initiative in Venlo, a Dutch city in the southeastern Netherlands, which is close to the border with Germany, to distribute the goods. Working with Venlo Helps Ukraine, Capri Holdings will utilize collections points that have been set up by the local charity to deliver clothing, medical goods, non-perishable food and other essential items for distribution within Poland and the Ukraine border. Venlo Helps Ukraine, supported by volunteers and volunteer transport, also accepts monetary donations to aid the displaced. They provide logistics by helping to organize housing for refugees in Poland and transporting refugees from the Ukraine border into Poland.

Aiding in the transport of the goods is Autotrasporti Rutilli Adolfo S.r.l., a transport and logistic company based in Italy operating for over thirty years in the fashion supply chain. They are supporting the effort with no-cost trucking services to Poland.

Once in Poland, the donated products will be distributed through A Shop Without Cash Registers, an organization located in Brwinów, Poland. The organization was founded by two Polish women in their homes searching for a way to help those in need. As the operation grew, the Galeria Brwinów Shopping Center provided the initiative with space rent-free to continue their work organizing the products and placing them on hangers to give a more comfortable and convenient way for the refugees to find the items they most needed. The clothes donated by Capri Holdings will be made available in a store-like environment to the Ukrainians who fled the country once Putin’s Russian Army invaded the neighboring country without provocation.

Clothing can meet both physical and mental needs; alas, clothes make the man in many ways. A Shop Without Cash Registers has expanded to a second location geared towards legal aid, providing help with applying for insurance, temporary job services, childcare and more. The Ukrainian currency has dropped significantly since the war broke out, adding to mostly female refugees’ troubles.

From many perspectives, the approach is certainly novel. Many luxury companies have opted to give large monetary donations to organizations such as UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. But perhaps donating product that already exists that could feasibly come from new or unsold stock is a more circular approach to the problem. Finding three key trusted partners, such as Venlo Helps Ukraine, Rutiili and A Shop With Cash Registers to make the concept possible is also key to this approach. With new merchandise of this value being passed through several hands, those prone to maleficence may see an opportunity. Not everyone who showed up at the Ukrainian border has done so with benevolent intention.

It may sound ironic to some when names such as Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors draw images of sexy and skimpy dresses, sky-high heels, and luxurious cashmere sweaters accordingly. But practical product offerings currently on the brand’s websites range from Versace’s warm hoodies starting at $295 to Jimmy Choo sneakers and rain boots starting at $475 to Michael Kors backpacks starting at $358, sweaters at $175 and faux leather anorak for $395.

Putting luxury labels on the backs of refugees may also be a marketing gamble that, if won, would make them remembered for helping with a touch of retail therapy during these dark times for the Ukrainians. Bringing a moment of joy to a lucky recipient of these pricey goods is proof of fashion’s power.