arena repurposes factory for the production of “carbon-fabric” sanitary masks

Following the spread of COVID-19 through northern Italy in February and early March, one of the factories that produces arena’s top line of racing swimwear started producing sanitary masks in the surroundings of Bergamo, one of the country’s hardest hit areas.

The initial impetus for the production shift was to focus on the health and safety of arena’s employees, promoting the adoption of individual protection devices to ensure their safe return to a healthy collective working environment when restrictions are eased.

Mask production – using the blue carbon fabric that is main feature of arena’s flagship racing swimwear range – soon reached a capacity of 1,000 units a day, allowing the company to donate masks to local and regional civil protection units for use on the coronavirus front lines. In fact, still today face masks and other protection devices are not easily available in many regions of Italy.

The masks are being produced for donation only, and will not be sold.

Like for many other Companies from different industries, this change in focus symbolizes the shift in arena’s priorities during this challenging period, not only in terms of protecting its own workforce, but also in contributing to the ongoing fight against COVID-19 in ways that draw on the company’s trademark attributes of creativity and innovation.