Face masks unleash creativity: 鈥榊ou can be part of the bigger story鈥�
| Basel, Switzerland; Mexico City; and Johannesburg
Pink flamingo masks in Florida. Lucha libre wrestler masks in Mexico City. Futuristic masks on Parisian catwalks and bold prints splashed across Sierra Leonean markets.
Three months ago, in much of the world, face masks were a no-nonsense medical tool. But today, as the pandemic drags on, they鈥檝e become a de rigueur part of daily attire聽鈥� from DIY superhero masks for kids to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 pantsuit-coordinated silks. As more public health officials have recommended face coverings, shortages in vital protective gear have turned ordinary citizens, fashion designers, and luxury brands into lifesaving mask-makers.
At times, it鈥檚 a political act. At times, a gesture of generosity. And increasingly, a fashion statement. COVID-19 has wrought chaos, but also unleashed an international wave of creativity and solidarity. Mask designs vary, but the underlying ethos is the same: This pandemic is ugly, but we can respond with beauty.聽
Why We Wrote This
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when you need to wear a face mask 鈥� well, why not make it a beautiful one? Resourceful artists are adapting their businesses to produce, and often donate, 2020鈥檚 must have.
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.
鈥淏y wearing a mask you鈥檙e indicating that you care about the people around you,鈥� says Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. 鈥淚t is so easy to include a mask with your ensemble.鈥澛�
Luxe look
The meaning and look of masks depends largely on where you come from. Western culture is not keen on masks 鈥� sometimes associated with thieves, or even beak-like bubonic plague doctor attire 鈥� and many European countries ban face coverings.
鈥淐hoosing a fashionable mask, color-coordinating it with your outfit, is taking that extra step towards making it seem friendly,鈥� says Dr. Steele. She predicts masks will remain in the Western wardrobe post-pandemic, but less so than in Asia, where they have been common for years to protect against colds and pollution.
Major luxury brands in Europe played good Samaritan during the worst of the crisis, making face masks for health workers and linking mask purchases to charitable donations. Many remain hesitant to chase profits, but other retailers are charging ahead.
French designer Marine Serre proved prescient, featuring masks in her collections since 2019. One even included a high-end air filter. 鈥淔ashion is just a translation of what is happening around us,鈥� says Ms. Serre, who found inspiration biking in polluted Paris.
Now, her priority is to make masks that are safe, not just fashionable. 鈥淭he pandemic has broken an ice wall,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can wear masks and it is fine and we can also have fun. Let鈥檚 see how the mask evolves with our lives.鈥�
The Czech Republic was one of the first European nations to make masks mandatory, sparking a sewing frenzy. A Facebook group called 鈥淐zechia sews face masks鈥� gathered a following of more than 40,000 people, mainly women willing to make free masks for health workers. In some areas, sewers hung up their creations on 鈥渕ask trees鈥� outside, where anyone in need could take them.
An exhibit at the National Museum in Prague showcased this outburst of solidarity. 鈥淧eople wanted to wear something that is interesting, that is fashionable,鈥� says curator Mira Burianova. Some masks are by local designers, but most are homemade creations quickly stitched together to confront the crisis.
鈥淚t is a symbol of this period, but I hope that our children will not need to wear masks,鈥� she adds.
鈥淎 country of masks鈥�
Masks in Mexico, meanwhile, reflect a history of creative resilience.
鈥淢exico is a country of masks,鈥� says designer Carla Fern谩ndez. 鈥淲e dance with masks; there鈥檚 lucha libre, carnivals, parties. Now we鈥檙e using them in different ways.鈥�
The coronavirus pandemic snuffed festivals and tourism. But many are harnessing the nation鈥檚 vibrant culture to save jobs and keep each other safe. Out-of-work wrestlers make masks mimicking sparkly, lace-up ones worn in the ring. The designs of artisans who typically craft traditional wooden or leather masks, such as of animals or devils, are now printed on fabric.
Ms. Fern谩ndez worried COVID-19 would hit the nearly 60% of Mexicans in the informal economy especially hard. She teamed up with a beverage company to produce 50,000 masks donated to public transportation workers and medical professionals. More are for sale to the public. The pivot helped keep afloat the 175 artisans and 20 employees she regularly works with, and 25% of all sales go back to the traditional mask-makers whose images are being used.
Even for Ms. Fern谩ndez, a well-established designer, finding appropriate fabric and functional patterns was a challenge. But the results are masks covered in brilliant images, like the sharp, triangular-toothed, bright-orange jaguar. She says Mexican adaptability 鈥� dating back to indigenous practices mixing with Spanish culture 鈥� is evident in how citizens reacted.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always someone to give you a hand,鈥� says Ms. Fern谩ndez, and it鈥檚 typically not the government. 鈥淔amily, friends, and community are a pillar of society. It鈥檚 in our blood: If you see a problem, you help.鈥�
Jes煤s Ortiz shares that instinct. The father of three went to the United States when he was 19 and was deported almost 10 years later, separating him from his family. Lately, he鈥檚 spent his Fridays traveling across Mexico City, delivering face masks made by fellow deportees and returnees. 鈥淚t keeps me busy and it鈥檚 a way to help fewer people get exposed,鈥� he says. It also helps counter stereotypes that deportees are criminals or victims.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important for deportee and returnee communities to mobilize together because they often don鈥檛 have those family safety nets that many Mexicans 鈥� and even Mexican public policy 鈥� rely on to respond to crises,鈥� says Jill Anderson, co-director of Otros Dreams en Acci贸n (ODA), an organization Mr. Ortiz belongs to, which supports deportees and returnees. Three members make masks covered in cactuses to donate or to sell.
Experts credit a past pandemic in Mexico for its openness to face masks. In 2009, when the H1N1 鈥渟wine flu鈥� emerged here, masks were the central measure pushed by the government, not stay-at-home orders, notes urban anthropologist Jos茅 Ignacio Lanzagorta.
鈥淲e鈥檝e assimilated to the use ... little by little,鈥� he says.
Covered, and beautiful聽
Many African countries, meanwhile, have already made face covers compulsory. And the continent鈥檚 designers have responded with masks designed to turn a drab public health protocol into something beautiful.
鈥淚 thought, we can find a delicious way to be safe and fashionable at the same time,鈥� says Cape Town designer Tracy Gore, who introduced masks to match her flower print tops and bomber jackets when masks became mandatory in South Africa.
Mask-wearing took root fairly easily across many parts of Africa, thanks in part to a culture of made-to-order fashion, facilitating companies鈥� pivot toward the latest health accessory.
In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, thousands of tailors usually work from tiny studios tucked between barber shops and corner stores, or in clattering rows in the fabric section of markets. When the government began restricting movement and enforcing social distancing measures, customers disappeared. No one needed a new dress for church or a birthday or a wedding.
But Mary Ann KaiKai, who runs a label called Madam Wokie, found purpose and opportunity. Ms. KaiKai had noticed how most of the thousands of women who sold fish, plantains, and neon orange bottles of palm oil in overcrowded markets didn鈥檛 wear masks. She rustled up donations, hired 100 out-of-work tailors, and turned her three-story atelier into a mask-making assembly line. Within three weeks, her team had made and distributed 72,000 masks across Freetown.
鈥淥ur question was, how do you make something that addresses this need but also is something where people will say, 鈥楾his is colorful, this is vibrant, and I want to keep wearing this because it鈥檚 beautiful,鈥欌�� says Ms. KaiKai, who made luxury clothes before the crisis. The masks she designed are made from ankara, a printed fabric known for its swipes of bright colors and angular geometric patterns.
鈥淓specially with the health system in Sierra Leone being weak, it鈥檚 important to protect yourself before you get sick,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to win any fashion awards producing masks. But it鈥檚 about how you can be part of the bigger story of defeating this disease.鈥� 聽
Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,聽all our coronavirus coverage聽is free. No paywall.
