Wolford joins push to make medical masks for hospitals, staff and consumers

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 30, 2020

Hosiery and intimates specialist Wolford has shifted production at its HQ in Bregenz, Austria, and its factory in Slovenia from tights and bodies to face masks.

The company said that “using its high-quality material, knitting technique and expertise for product finishing, the brand has quickly been able to adapt production processes". 

Additionally, it’s also managing the coordination of donations from main shareholder Fosun to healthcare-related institutions in Italy and Austria as part of the Fosun Global Anti-Virus Relief Scheme.

The firm’s HQ and factory have been producing face masks for its employees in critical regions and for its consumers since earlier in March, but it’s also part of a group of textile firms producing masks for use in hospitals and medical practices.

The masks for employees and consumers are made of a double-layered breathable fabric and are water-repellent with individually adaptable aluminium nose-wires and highly elastic, extra-thin bands to keep the masks in place. They’re also washable and therefore reusable. The main quantity of the masks will be handed out for free to employees in highly affected areas such as Italy and Austria. A limited number are being sold through the brand’s e-commerce site to customers worldwide with the price covering production costs and logistics and donations to healthcare related activities to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the medical mask project, Wolford is providing knitted, highly elastic tubes for the production of 8,000 masks a day. It also takes care of the moulding process.

As mentioned, the brand’s major shareholder Fosun has started a huge initiative, called the Global Anti-Virus Relief Scheme, to support the worldwide fight against the new virus. This is donating medical protection supplies to hospitals. 

Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun International, said: “As a global enterprise, we want to do our part to help the world win the battle against novel coronavirus as soon as possible. We are deeply concerned about the health and safety of our overseas employees and customers, and we will stand firmly with the global public. I believe that with the wisdom of all mankind, as long as we unite, support and help each other, we can overcome the difficulties and overcome the virus.”