The wildfires that have raged across the greater Los Angeles area are among the worst the West Coast has seen.
Over the last few days, homes and businesses have been destroyed, at least five people have died and thousands of residents have had to evacuate areas like the Pacific Palisades, the Hollywood Hills and Altadena. Los Angeles and the surrounding areas are home to many of the country’s beauty and fashion brands, and the response from brands has been immediate.
Over the course of the week, dozens of fashion and beauty brands have closed up shop to protect their employees. Brands like LuckyScent, Elorea, The Detox Market and Violet Grey have all closed their stores indefinitely until the crisis is over. Retailers including Elyse Walker have seen their stores destroyed.
But the fires have also elicited acts of charity and mutual aid from the Los Angeles fashion and beauty community. On Instagram, Rebecca Minkoff enjoined her followers to donate to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The Female Founder Collective, an organization co-founded by Minkoff, announced on Thursday afternoon that it had already raised more than $500,000 in relief funds for the LAFD.
Other companies have taken more direct action. The bag and travel brand Stoney Clover Lane, for example, solicited donations from other brands on Instagram to put together packages of essential goods to distribute to people whose homes were destroyed. Brands including Cerave and the B-Corp fashion brand Cleobella contributed.
Similarly, makeup brand Tower28 organized more than 70 other brands to collect donations for people affected by the fires. At its store in West Hollywood, fashion brand The Hundreds is giving out free care packages of clothing for those whose homes were destroyed. And denim brand Edwin is offering 10% of the proceeds of all of its sales in January to organizations like the American Red Cross.
“Our immediate priority is supporting those directly impacted by the devastating events in LA, which is why we our donations are focused on providing critical relief to affected communities and first responders,” said Sarah Paiji Yoo, co-founder and CEO of Blueland. “As climate disasters that were once considered rare continue to become a regular occurrence and government action continues to be rolled back, it’s clear that businesses need to set up. Our planet is more important than profits.”
Amy Liu, founder and CEO of Tower28, told Glossy her home in the Palisades Village is one of the few structures still standing, but her neighbors’ homes, her daughter’s school, and many of the grocery stores and coffee shops around her home are gone. She and her family just moved into a new home in Venice Beach but left with little more than the clothes on their backs.
“I started texting people I know in the community about things we could do to help each other,” Liu said. “So many people wanted to help but didn’t know how. I was amazed by how many people immediately were receptive to the idea of contributing whatever they could. We’ve got 70 brands involved now contributing donations. Even our private equity investor chipped in money.”
Liu said that she, along with model-actress and entrepreneur Molly Sims and private equity investor Jenna Jackson of Cavu Consumer Partners, organized the donations in an empty space above Tower28’s office with the plan to distribute them over the next few days. Additionally, Liu said a friend of a friend in the Los Angeles Fire Department informed her that, while the firefighters are flush with gifts of free pizza and drinks, what they really need is lip balm to deal with the harsh heat. Liu overnighted a shipment of lip balm to the LAFD shortly after.
Kirbie Johnson, a beauty reporter and podcaster who is based in the area, said the tight-knit community on display is “what makes L.A. special.”
“Right now, if you aren’t physically here to buy and drop off donations, the easiest way to help is to donate monetarily to places like the Red Cross,” she said. “The dust hasn’t settled and people and brands are eager to help but we need to get our bearings before we start facilitating shipments of beauty products, etc. Mostly we will need ongoing support. So many people have lost everything and that won’t change in a month.”
