After the government announced guidelines that all Americans should wear something to cover their mouths and noses in public spaces, a new market emerged: masks.
Fashionable nonmedical masks have hit the e-commerce sphere, from contemporary New York-based clothing company Alice and Olivia’s ten-dollar illustrated print cloth masks to a sixty-dollar lace mask from emerging sustainable mask maker Maison Modulare.
A number of fashion-related businesses are giving back to the cause: Local nonprofit seamstress program Rightfully Sewn started an initiative to make and donate cloth masks to local hospitals. Sewing machine manufacturer Singer got wind of their efforts and donated thirty sewing machines to the cause. International designers such as Christian Siriano and Armani have turned production sites into mask-making empires to donate to medical staff.
Jewelry designer Kendra Scott has donated the company’s signature yellow bandanas to volunteer groups to create masks for hospitals in Austin, New Orleans, New York and California. The company has also partnered with local retailer Sew KC to make and donate over twenty-five hundred masks to local front-line heroes in Kansas City.
