In a normal April, designers are putting the finishing touches to Resort — one of the year’s most commercially important collections, and the occasion of extravagant destination shows for fashion houses such as Chanel and Dior.

But this is not a normal April. As the spread of Covid-19 accelerated in Europe and North America last month, fashion companies from Prada to Brooks Brothers diverted their design and production teams to making masks and hospital gowns. Resort shows have been shelved. With their doors still shuttered, department stores have cancelled future orders lest they be stuck with surplus inventory.

Those who are going forward must still meet regular production deadlines. With most Italian fabric mills and warehouses unlikely to reopen for weeks, teams are dipping into old fabric stock held in-house, or heading back into their warehouses to reproduce previously successful pieces.