Governments are trying to secure more protective gear for health workers. In the meantime, costume designers are lending a hand.
ADVERTISEMENTAcross Europe, an army of costume designers are banding together to do their bit in the fight against COVID-19.
Their efforts come as heathcare workers in several countries still report shortages of the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to stay safe.
Madrid-based Peris Costumes, which has worked on several blockbusters included The Crown, The Young Pope and Vikings, has donated thousands of euros worth of protective gear to doctors, nurses and cleaning staff. Its CEO, Javier Toledo, said the fight against coronavirus needed a multi-industry response.
“We decided first to check what we had in our warehouses which have a lot of things which are useful coming from different series and productions. Once we found all that we could donate for protection, we decided to use our workshops to produce masks, aprons and other clothes that could help healthcare workers,” he told Euronews.
One of the most useful outfits has come from his company’s work on the hit TV drama Chernobyl. He said those costumes were designed for whole-body protection, and so were able to be repurposed for the current health emergency facing Europe.
“For this production, we bought a lot of plastic protections. Real costumes for protection and lucky we had this so we could help. We donated everything. Not only that, but also face covers and everything we could find in our stocks - shoes, and even materials used in real life by doctors and nurses,” he said.
There are similar efforts underway in Sweden, where the costume designer for Stockholm’s main theatre has switched from making costumes for the stage to medical aprons for those looking after the elderly.
"It's very difficult to change, we've had to put down all the work that we've had to do, and I've had to learn a lot about the healthcare system and what they need, and we have to be aware that this is only a small portion of what is needed,” said Nancy Andreasson Peters, head of makeup and costume at Kulturhusets Stadsteatern.
"We have also made disposable aprons, and we started yesterday, and we have some transparent plastic, which is really clean, so good plastic which is used in healthcare and we used an apron from the retirement home and we just cut the same model and we made about 10,000,” she added.