In line with official guidance, more and more people are wearing masks – allowing some a hint of self-expression amid the pandemic

While self-quarantining in her New York apartment recently, fashion journalist Sara Radin ordered a floral top, matching scrunchie and complimentary face mask constructed from the same blue, berry-printed fabric. Radin, who is recovering from a presumed case of Covid-19, took a selfie in the full ensemble and posted it on her Instagram.

“I’ve been scrolling and will see other people post matching sets,” says Radin, a former trend forecaster. “The mask is the new ‘must-have accessory’ … but literally. You must have it.”

After weeks of claiming otherwise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced new guidelines to protect against the coronavirus, recommending people wear cotton face masks or cloth facial coverings when going outside.

In just one day, a huge market opened up: the designer face mask. Corona-related demand has even enabled some fashion labels to reopen their factories, providing desperately needed supplies and, for some, self-expression amid chaos.

Concern over the spread of coronavirus for months hasn’t stopped Marie Lodi and her husband from exercising their love of kitsch.

“Our masks are really flamboyant and have hot pink tie-dye and Guy Fieri flames on them,” says Lodi, a fashion writer and host of Fishnet Flix, a podcast about costume design. “Because we said if we are living in a pandemic and have to wear masks, then we might as well have some fun.”

Rather than ape the sterility of increasingly unavailable standard masks, which before the crisis might have retailed for as little as $0.44 per single-use item, the ones sold by indie designers and larger brands have playful styles fit for a public health crisis and springtime looks.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The mask with Guy Fieri flames. Photograph: Marie Lodi

Matrushka’s $10 cotton masks, constructed out of fabric scraps from its couture studio, are colorful creations with aliens and cartoon cats front and center. “If having a cool non-medical grade mask with cats or unicorns or sharks on it makes things less scary [for all of us], I’m happy,” says Laura Howe, the brand’s owner and designer. “I don’t like the idea of us all looking the same: sad, scared, behind the same kind of mask.”

Men’s sporting gear retailer Ball and Buck is selling a camo print face mask. Maison Modulare has sold out of their French lace mask, a more expensive item priced at $60. Los Angeles Apparel, the successor to American Apparel, is offering FACEMASK3, a three-pack of masks made of French Terry fabric, available in nine colors.

“I felt like this is what I’d been training for,” says Grisel Lopez, a designer for Possessed, fetishwear line which produces neon-colored PVC masks that can be sanitized.

“The government is not stepping up,” adds MI Leggett, founder of Official Rebrand, which uses upcycled materials. “Making masks is something I had to do.”

Major brands such as Christian Siriano, Zara, H&M and Prada are using their factories to produce necessities solely for medical staff. Some smaller companies have one-for-one initiatives: for each mask sold, they donate another to essential workers. After the CDC released its new guidelines, Naomi Mishkin, owner of Naomi Nomi, says she has received 5,000 orders for her cotton masks, meaning the same number will go to first responders. Like many indie designers, she has been able to re-open her factory and get her team back to work.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest One of the Maison Modulare masks. Photograph: Maison Modulare

“Fashion brands who have been able to pivot to making masks right now are crucial,” says Marie Lodi. “Everyone benefits: the brands who are losing money, the healthcare workers, and the civilians who are in need of masks.”

Yet, as is the case when any moral effort is commodified, some who are familiar with the fashion industry have concerns.

“As the pandemic continues to spread, I anticipate that some high-end brands might charge higher prices [for masks] and capitalize on the fact that people are scared,” says Gianluca Russo, a style reporter for Teen Vogue.

There are also sustainability issues plaguing fast fashion manufacturers, from environmental harm to labor abuses. It may only be a matter of time before titans such as H&M and Zara, with their “problematic production models”, as Radin says, pivot from making medical masks to ones for consumers.

“If coronavirus goes on for an extended period of time and masks become bigger parts of our daily lives, we need to produce them [humanely],” Radin says. “It’d be great if people buying masks could instead put their dollars into smaller companies or indie brands.”

Could the mask trend continue when we stop social distancing and Covid-19 is less of a threat?

Masks have long been a regular feature of daily life in east Asia, for fashion and for health purposes, and are sometimes considered a sign of the wearer’s social responsibility.

“Whether it will take off as a fashion trend here in the US depends on whether stigma around wearing a mask can be changed,” says Christine Wu, a fashion anthropologist and former lecturer at the Parsons School of Design.

“We hold on to memories through the clothing we wear,” adds fashion writer Gabriela Herstik. “The collective trauma of Covid will be ingrained, and I think a lot of us are going to keep wearing our masks when this is over, like a safety blanket.”