When it comes to the non-medical face masks now recommended by public health officials, function has in many cases been trumping fashion.
Any cotton fabric that a mask-maker has on hand — or can find amid the often picked-over bolts in fabric shops — has sufficed, said Mariana Mitova, who counts herself among those grateful to have a mask in any pattern or style at this stage of the coronavirus outbreak.
But with the need for such personal protection now expected to extend into an indefinite future, Mitova, who coordinates the fashion merchandising and product development program at Bowling Green State University, is also among those beginning to think a bit less utilitarian.
Could a mask express a wearer's sense of style, either in a simple print or an attention-grabbing embellishment? Could it signal an affiliation with a favorite team, a loyalty to a favorite brand? Could it complement an outfit in the same way as a pair of earrings or a purse?
“Once you have that initial need satisfied,” Mitova said, “then you can get creative.”
Americans are already seeing masks presented as fashion accessories, an aesthetic role that complements their foremost one in public health, according to the program coordinator and others involved in the fashion industry locally. At Paris Fashion Week in late February, designer Marine Serre coincidentally met the moment with a line that incorporated face coverings. Among a fashion-forward and virus-conscious set of attendees at international runways throughout the month, masks emerged as the must-have accessories.
And as public officials continue to push mask-wearing into a cultural new normal in the United States, locals expect to see the mask's dual role in fashion ramp up in the coming weeks and months. While major fashion houses already released their fall collections, Mitova said smaller-scale operations will be able to more quickly adapt to an emerging demand. And brands are likely to jump on the trend as well, producing masks with their names and logos.
That's not to mention the swell of individual designers like Holland's Annie Streb, who's selling masks with vintage fabrics, and Toledo's Autumn Gineen, who's currently working with cottons but thinking about what possibilities there might be in unusual fabrics and embellishments.
Gineen has already experimented with a velour mask for herself.
At Vivian Kate, an upscale Perrysburg boutique that specializes in fashion consulting, owner Keri Suhy is envisioning a future where she's helping clients coordinate masks to their outfits. If they — and she — are going to have to wear them, they'll at least want their masks to look good.
“I anticipate as long as this pandemic continues, there will be a drawer next to everyone's sock drawer, and it will be the face mask drawer,” Suhy said.
Fashion has always drawn its inspiration from the world around it, Suhy said. Consider the way that runway looks skew minimalist when the economy is not doing well, she suggested as an example. Conversely, looks lean into extravagance when the economic outlook is good.
She sees that same real-world inspiration in the face masks that cropped up most recently on models and attendees at Fashion Weeks in February.
(Serre's collection was in the works before the outbreak. She's introduced a variety of mask styles in previous seasons as well, tying the accessories to issues of air quality.)
Mitova said that while many trends in fashion begin on the runway, and then filter out to the public, masks are likely one that will move in the opposite direction: She and Suhy both said they anticipate masks to appear to a greater extent in designer collections going forward.
“I’m sure as long as we’re asked to wear face masks, designers will start matching face masks to their collections, just as they do with handbags and shoes,” Suhy said.
Both Streb and Gineen said they were responding to a need when they started making masks.
Streb runs Psychedelic Blond, an online shop specializing in vintage items, which she either resells or up-cycles. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced its recommendation to wear cloth face coverings in public on April 3, she wanted to do her part to meet what she anticipated would be a steep demand. But in line with her vintage aesthetic, she opted to in part use fabrics from the '70s, '80s and '90s that she purchased on Etsy.
In addition to the usual cottons, she’s also playing with satins and denims.
She’s seen significant interest, and she said she’s appreciated the customers who tell her that her patterns make it more enjoyable to wear their new-normal masks.
Gineen is a local fashion designer who works out of the Truth Art Gallery on Adams Street. When there isn’t a pandemic, she specializes in custom designs, including formal wear. But she similarly anticipated a need for face masks, so she shifted her work priorities by mid-March.
So far she’s stuck to cottons and simple patterns, which she likes because they’re sturdy and versatile for the professionals who order from her. But as she, too, anticipates a future where face masks are here to stay, she’s thinking about how she could get more creative.
“Denim masks, leather masks, masks with rhinestones or masks with sequins,” she said, tossing out ideas. She tends to prefer a simpler mask, she said, but is thinking about experimenting with denim or a designer fabric. “I’m interested to see what the other designers and the other seamstresses are going to come up with.”
Team Sports in Holland is already edging into branded masks. The sporting goods and apparel shop released a line of polyester and spandex masks featuring a University of Toledo Rocket logo earlier this month. Part of the proceeds of each sale go toward UT's COVID-19 Student Emergency Fund.
Matt Eberly, a senior account representative with Team Sports, characterized the new product as their effort to do their part to support the community. They’re in talks with other schools about similarly branded masks, he said, and he anticipates that they could stick around as a new product line.
Masks are “going to be part of our world for a while,” he said.
While face masks aren’t in themselves a new accessory, Mitova said, pointing to their prominence in some parts of Asia, as well as the functional masks worn by bikers and runners, the current wave of demand in this country seems to uniquely represent a new market in the U.S.
As stay-at-home orders begin to lift across the country, and as non-essential workers begin to cautiously re-emerge from the homes in the coming weeks and months, it’s a market that she predicts will continue to develop. She sees it continuing shift from strictly functional to also fashionable – either way, the season's must-have accessory.
First Published April 26, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
