Once seen as a sign of sickness, face masks embraced across Asia are earning a new status in the fashion world even as their popularity lags in the West.
Although it is almost impossible to isolate its beginnings, the idea of bringing face masks into fashion started some time towards the end of January, when the Covid-19 outbreak was worsening in China.
Today, Asia is far ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to the integration of face masks in daily life. But the West may soon catch up, with only acceptance by big European fashion names and Americans brands needed to kickstart the social revolution, according to Selina Wong, Vice President of Macau Urban Creative Industry Association.
One of its first high-profile appearances in the West was when U.S. singer Billie Eilish wore a Gucci designer mask during this year’s Grammy awards. A few weeks later, at Paris Fashion Week, French designer Marine Serre presented the audience with outfits paired with face masks.
Whether it was due to fears of the Covid-19 outbreak or a deliberate attempt to upgrade the status of the item, in the past few weeks several examples show the product is gaining popularity worldwide, helped by an interest from celebrities and the reach of social media.
For local designer and Worker Playground fashion brand owner Vincent Cheang, the rising popularity of the face mask as a fashion accessory is something previously “unimaginable.”
“In this kind of situation [a pandemic] nobody would think of a mask as a fashion item. It is just seen as an essential product, just like a pair of pants or a skirt,” Cheang told the Times. “But if you are a person interested in fashion and you care to put on a good outfit, you soon realize that adding a face mask could mess up the whole look.”
In the designer’s opinion, this has led people to find ways to match face masks with their outfits and has led to the creation of new designs to match particular styles.
Fashion designer Nicole Tam, creator of the brand ANtitled said, “As designers, we are always trying to solve a problem for the market. The face mask is definitely a trending item right now and I have seen some new designs including colorful printed masks and I think they are cool.”
For Selina Wong, it is clear that Asia has been at the forefront of face mask adoption, as well as the attempts to individualize or style it. Japan and Taiwan were the front-runners of stylistic mask usage, especially regarding “cute” designs and handmade items using pure cotton handkerchiefs as their base, said Wong.
However, these attempts so far have mostly resulted in the inclusion of cultural features, colors, drawings or patterns – and not something that has the potential to start a worldwide trend.
“Although Asia has been using masks for many years, it would be difficult to call it a trend in fashion without the big European brands and Americans,” said Wong, noting that world fashion trends still follow market leaders in France, Italy and the U.S.
“It seems that in these countries there is still a negative reaction and an aversion to using face masks [even in situations of crisis like the Covid-19 outbreak] and this fact might indicate that we are still far from it becoming a trend.”
In Portugal, one family business seeks to not only capitalize on the trend of transforming face masks into iconic fashion products, but also address the environmental impact of disposable masks.
The widespread use of disposable face masks all over the planet has raised environmental concerns, with reports of littering caused by their improper disposal appearing in several parts of the world. Last week, the South China Morning Post featured a report on the high number of face masks that are washing ashore along the Hong Kong coastline during a trip guided by Gary Stokes, founder of Oceans Asia, an ocean conservation organization based in the neighboring region.
Portugal’s MontLusa might have the answer. Founded in 2012, the company is headquartered in Benedita, a municipality of Alcobaça. They work on leather goods and fashion accessories, and have decided to take a leap and explore new materials and ideas to make a new face mask.
In an exclusive interview with the Times, MontLusa’s Ricardo Lopes explained that the idea for the creation of the mask came from the lack of disposable masks on the market in Portugal, as well as the spiking prices of the product.
“We decided to create our own mask,” Lopes said, “bearing in mind that a simple disposable mask could cost around 4.50 euros [MOP39] and that, as the name says, it is a single-use item that can only be used once and then is discarded.”
“The reusable masks need only to be washed traditionally, or with disinfectants, before they can be worn it again without hassle and in a safe manner,” he said. In this way, the masks also reduce the waste produced by disposable masks.
The materials used in this mask are from natural sources. The shell is made of natural cork, and the interior has 100% cotton lining and is elastic.
“In the ones we are producing at the moment, there is no filter since the cotton lining itself allows filtering. But we are developing a new mask […] that we are aiming to certify for use in hospitals, clinics and security forces staff.”
At the moment, the company is still testing how long the mask can be used for, so it is not possible to confirm how many times it can be used safely. But the company assured that “it has extended durability without losing its characteristics.”
There are also currently several production units from Macau and the mainland producing these types of more personalized products. Selina Wong, who owns one such local production unit making masks out of anti-bacterial fabric, said they gear their production toward made-to-order masks for children and babies, using embroidery, for example, to make the products more attractive to younger users.
Like MontLusa, Wong is also preoccupied with ensuring her products are environmentally-sustainable, but notes the difficulties overcoming the common view that reusable cotton masks are not as hygienic as the surgical disposal ones.
“People still criticize them as they think these masks are not good enough. But in fact, we have done several studies in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to assure that they were effective, as if they were not, there was no use in producing them,” said Wong. “What we found out is that you can make a decorative or fashionable mask design using different materials as long as the filter inside is effective and strong enough to contain the virus.”
She added that Hong Kong Polytechnic University also created their own masks using the same anti-bacterial fabric.
Both MontLusa and Wong’s factory started producing these masks not as a commercial activity, but to supply them to their employees and for personal use. Ricardo Lopes of MontLusa said that originally the creation of the mask was not part of any strategic marketing plan, but “made for the use of employees.”
Cheang’s foray into the business is more deliberate. He is studying some of the new products on the market to understand how he can create a line of face masks that are both functional and stylish.
On the production of these items, Cheang noted that there two major concerns regarding the functionality of the final product.
“One is the protection factor from the virus [it must include these characteristics] and the second is that it must look good,” he said, noting that the bigger challenge designers are facing at the moment is to “design a product that looks good but that at the same time has a protective function. This is the most complex part.”
For the time being, he is studying two options. First, a new product that he acquired in Italy some time ago. It has a replaceable filter that can be used for as long as two months, and offers the option of creating a double layer style shell to incorporate common, single- use surgical masks.
Cheang says that this is very well-designed and efficient, but it also carries a hefty price tag. His current focus is on how to create a similar item that is more marketable.
For Tam, including face masks in an ANtitled collection just depends on collaborators. She says she would enjoy working on such a project as long as the final product fits into her brand’s identity, which focuses on sustainability.
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