Designers Turned Mask Makers: 5 Fashion Brands We Love
Our name totally gives it away, but here at Style Engineers Worldwide love fashion. What's more, we adore innovative fashion – when couturiers solve real world problems through clothing design. It's literally our whole thing, so we are thrilled to highlight some of our favorite brands who have pivoted from producing their next collection to sewing masks during the COVID-19 crisis.
So many awesome brands are doing this, so we selected our favorite coronavirus-battling companies ranging from designer labels to small business and even wearable tech makers. Who is your favorite designer helping out during the pandemic? Let us know in the comments!
Christian Siriano
Normally a chic and savvy designer eager to dress all body types (including some of our fave celebs like Leslie Jones and Jonathan Van Ness), forward-thinking Christian Siriano is now making fabric masks, and has been a leader in the designer-label-turned-mask-maker movement since the beginning of the pandemic. By April 21, Christian Siriano's fashion house had made 10,000 masks for essential workers, which is totally amazing. You can donate directly to the cause here to help offset factory sanitization and logistics costs.
United By Blue
On an average, non-pandemic day, United By Blue's mission is to use their sustainable, ethical business model to help clean the ocean by removing one pound of waste for every purchase made. Now, in addition to their hip, outdoorsy fashions that double as #ProductsWithPurpose, you can buy a pack of salvaged hemp face masks to protect yourself and others from coronavirus transmission. When you buy a pack, another pack is donated to members of Philadelphia's homeless community with the help of charitable organization Chosen 300.
OESH + Luna Innovations
You know we stan a cause-driven fashion and tech collab, and this one is the most potent of radsauces. Both companies are based out of Charlottesville, VA, and have combined efforts to make masks for healthcare workers. Eco-friendly cobbler OESH normally 3D prints footwear and is now printing respirator masks with the help of their scientific-instrument-manufacturer neighbor Luna Innovations. OESH does the printing of the soft mask parts, and Luna welds on additional components before distributing the masks.
For Days
For Days is an eco-friendly brand that strives for zero waste. When you donate your old clothes, you get a discount. Currently, For Days’ mask program donates an equal number of masks purchased to healthcare professionals. You can also just pay to donate masks to frontline workers in need.
Lumen Couture
This is wearable tech maven Chelsea Klukas' fashion brand, and Lumen Couture's LED matrix masks are here to light up your style in the time of the pandemic. Literally. They also shine from a helping out perspective. For every mask sold, Lumen Couture donates 60% of profits to WHO’s COVID Response Fund. Another brilliant idea: If you want to make your own LED matrix mask, Lumen Couture created a handy how-to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsPnGvtVHTE