Gabriela Hearst And Net-a-Porter Team Up For A Handbag Sale To Help Fight COVID-19

- Twenty percent of profits from Gabriela Hearst’s Bags of Purpose sale on Net-a-Porter will benefit Save the Children’s global Coronavirus Response Fund.

- The sale will last for two weeks, and includes her new Baez style from the spring 2020 collection.

Related article: Brands Send Their Support To Those Impacted By COVID-19

Luxury shopping with purpose is core to Gabriela Hearst’s business. The New York designer has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through charity sales for Save the Children’s emergency aid to families suffering from drought in Kenya and war in Yemen. Now, she’s partnering with Net-a-Porter on a new initiative to support Save the Children’s global relief efforts in the fight against COVID-19.

Hearst’s signature nappa leather top-handle bags (which are typically special order only) will be available in her Bags of Purpose sale on Net-a-Porter for a limited two-week period from June 29⁠–July 12. They include the new Baez bag from the spring 2020 runway collection, which gently unfolds and can be worn as a small tote, as well as her other classic styles named for female singers, the Nina and Diana. Twenty percent of profits will be donated to Save the Children’s global Coronavirus Response Fund.

For Hearst, the decision to support Save the Children again was obvious. “When the pandemic started, it was pretty clear that there were going to be serious repercussions for children,” she says. “Hundreds of millions of children around the world that are not going to school. And a lot of those families have lost their income. Think about how much the world is changing. Now try imagining it from the perspective of a child.” Funds raised will go towards twin goals of keeping kids in the U.S. and around the world healthy and educated during the coronavirus crisis.

Thirty million kids in America rely on school for food as well as education, and with the closing of schools and summer programs across the country, many children living in rural areas are without both. Save the Children is making deliveries of meals and educational materials to help ensure that out-of-school students are getting the tools they need to thrive at home.

Related article: Gabriela Hearst To Donate 100 Percent Of Proceeds To Help Children In Yemen

Save the Children is also working in Syria, Lebanon, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and more than 100 other countries to provide nutrition and learning resources, as well as hygiene supplies and PPE to reduce the spread of the virus among the world’s most vulnerable populations. The humanitarian organization makes every dollar count. $100 can provide a box of 50 face masks; fill a bookshelf for a child; or feed breakfast, lunch and dinner to 10 children who usually rely on school for food. So each handbag purchased has the potential to help a lot.

“It’s going to be such a hard world for millions and millions of people,” says Hearst, reflecting on the pandemic’s truly global reach. “That’s why I believe that if any individual or company is in a position to help, they must do so.”

Shop Gabriela Hearst's Bags Of Purpose Collection.

This article originally appeared on Harper's BAZAAR US.

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