Anthony Galante recognizes sewers and tailors as the true heroes of the fashion industry. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic halted much of the city, many of these workers faced job insecurity. The virus only compounded this reality.
As a New York-based designer, Galante saw an opportunity. By hiring a team to make non-medical personal protective equipment (PPE), he could provide essential work to sewers and offset the lack of needed materials for non-medical hospital workers, such as receptionists, drivers and social workers.
Hospitals are experiencing a critical shortage of face masks and isolation gowns. He had a coalition of sewers able to meet that need.
“While I didn't have a full-time team on payroll,” Galante said, “I did have a large and growing network of sewers, so I decided to raise funds.” On March 24, he published the Operation COVID-19 Garment Revival GoFundMe page with a goal to raise $30,000.
The money raised will provide fair wages to the sewers and will be used to purchase raw fabrics, materials and necessary transportation.
However, with the statewide suspension of all nonessential businesses, many fabric suppliers closed. So, Galante reached out his own network of stylists to gather new and slightly used cotton and denim garments.
His request was answered, and in the last few weeks, the team of more than 12 local sewers has received hundreds of yards of materials and has committed to produce more than a thousand masks.
Supima, a nonprofit organization that works with high-quality mills, textile and clothing manufacturers, donated more than 200 yards of fabric. This donation enables Galante and his team to make 4,000 masks next week.
Yet, there is still a need for financial donations. “We need generous donors who believe in our project to donate so we can budget for the next few weeks,” Galante said. “Any donation is helpful and will go directly to sewers and drivers.”
As of April 2, Operation COVID-19 Garment Revival has donated over a thousand masks and hundreds of isolation gowns and has partnered with local organizations providing essential care, including Masks4Medicine, Sew4Lives, St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Peter’s Hospital, Center for Urban Community Services, Elmhurst Hospital and Mt. Sinai West Hospital.
If you are able to donate to Operation COVID-19 Garment Revival, please visit the GoFundMe page for further details and updates on the team’s important work.
By Joseph Held, Blog + Content Curator