Coronavirus: custom and designer cloth masks in high demand

With non-medical masks now strongly recommended by health officials and mandatory on the TTC, they’re fast becoming the next trendy wardrobe essential.

Cloth masks are meant to protect others from any droplets you might expel and authorities believe we’ll all be better protected if everyone wears them.

So while they’re more of a necessity than just an accessory, many are looking for something a little more chic and a little less clinical and local designers are answering the call.

Juliann Barry, creator of clothing brand Stylz Afriq, hails from Antingua and fell in love with Ankara fabrics when she lived in Nigeria. A chef by day, she decided to take the plunge into fashion full-time just about a week before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

With her launch plans effectively on the back burner, she had to adapt quickly to cater to market demand and keep the business afloat.

She was initially hesitant to start making masks from the colourful materials she uses in her modern African designs.

“I spoke to my mum … and she said ‘don’t profit from a bad situation, that’s not good’,” she tells CityNews.

But after health agencies around the world began suggesting everyone should wear masks she chose to dive in, with a little encouragement from a friend who requested a few.

After posting her designs on Instagram, Barry says many more people reached out to purchase her masks and she’s now expanded into kids sizes as well as matching headwraps and masks.

“In this period of having to be home, you start becoming frumpy-dumpy,” she says. “When I go outside, I still want to look fly.”

Barry, along with 3 other local brands – The Allen Avenue, Channa Karasi and Kuraz Designs – is part of a collective of Black-owned, female-led fashion houses called the Designer’s Studio. They were planning a grand opening before everything was shutdown due to the coronavirus.

All the brands are now producing creative, affordable masks in alignment with their own aesthetic.

Along with up and coming small businesses, established designer houses have also added masks to their repertoire.

Narces is a well-known name in the Canadian fashion space and initially began making non-medical masks to donate to the healthcare sector.

“It came to us during a time where you felt helpless,” says creative director Nikki Yassemi.

In looking for a way to help frontline workers as well as her own staff who were no longer working on special occasion gowns and dresses, Yassemi says masks seemed like the perfect solution.

“We had fabrics that we use for our evening-wear and we thought we could do it in our own aesthetic,” she says.

After meticulously exploring filter options and different fits, Yassemi says they settled on a design that works with most face types and has a pocket to insert a filter.

When customers showed interest in the masks made from luxurious fabrics, they began producing them for sale as well. Yassemi says they are a form of self expression, just like other clothing items.

“What you wear is a big message about how you’re feeling and what kind of a statement you want to make,” she says. “There’s nothing bigger than having something go in front of your mouth — you’re expressing quite a bit there.”

But it’s not just a “COVID-chic” trend. For every mask sold, Narces donates two or more masks to healthcare workers.

“We’ve had quite a lot of people reach out and they’re all wanting to help as well…they know that [their purchases] enable us to donate, so that’s been great,” she says.

They have so far donated over 5000 masks to organizations like Trillium Health Partners and Homes First as well as smaller shelters and individuals in need.

Click here for links to masks by Narces and the Designer’s Studio.