Fashion brand Ralph Lauren to make medical masks and gowns

World renowned fashion brand Ralph Lauren is to start making medical masks and gowns – the latest designer brand to lend its support to the coronavirus fight.

The fashioner designer announced the shift in production through its charitable arm on Thursday. The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation will start making 250,000 masks and 25,000 isolation gowns in the US.

Other fashion brands have also pledged to help make urgently needed medical wear. The foundation is also donating $10m (£8.2m) towards the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. In the US the death toll has now risen above 1,000.

“At the heart of our company, there has always been a spirit of togetherness that inspires our creativity, our confidence and most importantly our support for one another. In the past weeks and months, that spirit has never wavered,” said Ralph Lauren, executive chairman of the fashion brand.

Other well-known retailers are also shifting production lines to manufacture face masks and gowns, while carmakers are looking at how they can help make ventilators.