It’s Actually Okay For Masks To Become A Trend, Here’s Why

To begin with, sunglasses were never introduced as a fashion accessory. Sunglasses were invented somewhere in the 12th century in China. Made from a rustic slab of smoked quartz, sunglasses were used to conceal the expression while interrogating at the court. [1] Sunglasses made the Chinese judges seem emotionally detached. Much later, the darkened sunglasses were crafted to help correct and improve the vision. Later, sunglasses were largely used by the Army corps and Air Force officers during World War II to protect themselves from the harmful glare of the sun. However, sunglasses were popularised by Hollywood stars and they used sunglasses to enhance their personality and fashion sensibility. Today, sunglasses are not merely used as a tool of detachment and protection but they reflect a part of the personality of a person. From golden tints to cat-eyed frames, sunglasses have evolved as a must-have fashion accessory and to think, they were a utility at some point. The protective masks, we believe, will have the same journey as that of sunglasses.

Source (left side picture): Eka

Ever since, the COVID-19 outbreak, which started at Wuhan in China, masks became a necessity. The pandemic demands the usage of a mask for the disease is highly infectious. For those in the healthcare department, masks including N95, N99 & 100 & P95 & R95 are mandatory as these masks can filter approx. 95 % of minute airborne particles. [2] But for the common citizens, cloth/non-surgical masks are good enough unless they are infected by flu or exhibit COVID-19 symptoms. Since, highly-effective medical N95 masks faced a global shortage, which led to the fashion giants like LVMH producing masks in their factories, the citizens other than the healthcare workers have been using a cloth or fabric masks. These cloth masks can be ordered from various e-commerce portals and labels. Cloth masks or the masks that most of us have access to are usually given a distinctive touch with patterns such as floral prints, pop culture-inspired accents, and more so that consumers find it more appealing. So, as a result, masks with the exception of medical and surgical masks, have forayed into the fashion sector. Like sunglasses, masks do have utility but they have become more of a fashion accessory.

It's not to say masks haven't been experimented with and not put into the fashion context. Historically speaking, masks were used to hide the identity of a person. People used to wear masks to perform rituals but later masks were also worn by theatre artists and performers, and also at masquerade balls. In the medical context, masks came years later and the first masks used during the endemic were rather fashionable and costume-like. In 1619, a French doctor named Charles de Lorme invented a mask with a long beak that was teamed with a long coat as protection from airborne contagious particles.[3] [4] The beak was filled with perfume, dried flowers, and herbs. These masks were also used by the doctors during the plague epidemic. It was later that cotton masks and non-woven surgical masks were donned by doctors and these masks gained relevance particularly during the pneumonic plague and 1918 flu pandemic.

While masks have been used by doctors since ages, the current fashion industry also took reference from the diverse customs and traditions and experimented with masks. There have been fashion shows by leading designers too with masks as the main theme. Designers and brands including late Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, Richard Quinn, and Marine Serre, and others have had fashion shows with models wearing statement masks, right from crystal-embellished to latex ones. In fact, a Mask Fashion Week was held in Lithuania recently amid coronavirus pandemic to spread awareness about the importance of wearing masks in the modern narrative. So, unlike sunglasses, we believe masks were treated as a fashion accessory and it's not a recent development. In the 19th century, women wore lace masks to protect themselves from dust. So, the question shouldn't be whether masks should become a fashion accessory? It's already become, the question is that whether masks should become a trend, have mass appeal, and become as common as sunglasses?

"All trends really come out of life and times. If there was Dior's new look or Yves Saint Laurent made pants for women, keeping in mind that women must go to work as well and they just can't wear dresses or tight little things. Everything comes out both of necessity or of experience. The mask, if you look at the global coverage of masking unmasking - the mask is a symbol of our times as well as a utilitarian object," says Shefalee Vasudev, Editor, The Voice of Fashion.

There have been a lot of debates and coverage on whether masks should become a fashion trend at a mass level. It's true that trends do come out of adversity also but some are of the opinion that how something that symbolised tragedy can become a fashion statement. However, on the other hand, wearing masks is considered a necessity in the current scenario and if we are wearing one, a sprinkle of floral patterns wouldn't hurt a lot? Spectacles, for instance, is a necessity for people with eyesight problem but in today's time, if somebody wears a colourful pair or the jazzy retro ones, nobody seems to mind that. Denim jeans were first made for workers and miners for their comfort and functionality as an outfit. If a whiff of fashion inspires people to wear masks, what's wrong with it?

In fact, fashion is a lot about solving a problem. When Coco Chanel invented little black dress and other functional wear for women, she basically gave a big relief to women from corsets and other uncomfortable garments. So, yes masks can be looked at as a solution more than aesthetic. Aesthetic is just a little spice. Fashion designer, Wajahat Rather shares, "People understand fashion as just glamour. I believe design essentially is meant to solve problems and aesthetics is just the interface. So, if we are designing masks where we should think of fabric that protects us from infection or has herbs infused in the fabric may actually help people. There is a possibility of innovation in the mask. I guess we have to see design as a solution to problems rather just as an embellishment."

Source: Christian Siriano

Adding to that, when there was a global shortage of masks, the fashion industry was the first one to take action to minimise the loss. Right from fashion giants like LVMH to individual designers such as Christian Siriano, Anita Dongre, and Ritu Kumar, designers made masks for the healthcare department and underprivileged section of the society. Creating a fashion trend wasn't the first thing that came to mind.

However, for smaller designers and labels, masks became a way of not only showing support but also curbing economic losses caused by tight lockdown rules. "Designers are in loses at this point in time. You know how many industries are relying on fashion design," adds Wajahat Rather. These small homegrown labels aren't even selling masks at a high price at the moment. For instance, at Fabindia, a set of 4 non-surgical masks are priced at just INR 170. So, it's not as if the brands are retailing masks at an exorbitant price. If they were selling masks at a high price then one could question on making profits.

Also, sustainably thinking, masks are helping solve the wastage problem as well. Shefalee Vasudev brings out an important point, "The other thing is that there is a lot of waste cloth lying in factories, in inventory, in workshops of designers from Sabyasachi to Ritu Kumar from Rina Singh to Fabindia. That can actually be, legitimately made into masks giving thus functionality, employment to tailors and people."

While making masks has its advantages too as Shefalee Vasudev pointed out but some designers have a problem, not in making simple masks, but in putting their label's name or making designer masks.

Source: Sabyasachi Mukherjee

Recently, Sabyasachi Mukherjee in an India Today interview to Nonita Kalra, Editor Harper's Bazaar India revealed that masks shouldn't become a fashion statement. The designer said, "I hope not. Because we are talking about a health crisis and I hope we don't put privilege on things that are essential for health. I think it is really obnoxious and it is really offensive to do designer face masks. If I have to use my factory to be able to manufacture face masks, which is just a simple mask and where I am only a vendor, I am happy to do that. I will never put my label on a face mask."

However, we believe the fashion industry is only responding to a need that has arisen out of the crisis. Masks are going to be essential even after the launch of a vaccine because we'll be so used to wearing masks, it's going to have a psychological impact too. Most of the designers and labels aren't even endorsing masks like a lucrative product - the way they might brand, for example, a handbag. They aren't even selling masks with a tone like, 'wearing a mask will make you look sassier and street-style perfect.' The designers have just put out masks and they come in all price ranges. For instance, a person from a middle-class family wouldn't think of buying a Sabyasachi mask in the first place. And at some point, if it continues to be a trend with employment opportunities, even if the designers are not putting tags right now, at some point they well. So, like sunglasses, which are now branded and put a tag on even though sunglasses were a necessity not a fashion statement, to begin with, is putting a tag on mask really obnoxious?

"Why shouldn't it be branded, it is perfectly fine unless you know designers start making Swarovski masks or they start making Benarasi weaves if they start creating decorative pieces out of something that is really relating to essential hygiene. In this, if you buy a Bata chappal (slippers) but you say that I want of Paragon or you want Charles & Keith, Aldo, or Adidas, so you make a choice and buy a chappal. Some of that is driven by the fact that you find that pair of slippers very beautiful, some of it is driven by the fact that it is more utilitarian and affordable as per your budget. Branding is not an aim or a choice, there is no morality here. If Sabyasachi starts selling masks for 50,000 rupees or if Fabindia they start selling them for 2000 rupees, then there is a commercial question you can put to it that why are brands and companies gaining or making a profit out of something that is essentially a symbol of the times when we are losing our health and safety but otherwise I think it is absolutely fine and fair for brands to do that. Ritu Kumar did take special permission to get first 10,000 masks made from the waste fabric lying in her factories. Rina Singh of Eka has started making masks, so many designers will get into this and I think it is perfectly fine if you could differentiate an Eka mask from Ritu Kumar mask from Fabindia mask. It is all kapda (cloth) and this kapda is a part of their design DNA - what printing they do, whether it is a hand-block printing, floral, you recognise the cloth through their designers. As per WHO's (World Health Organization) requirements of the mask, it should be a double-layered mask, it should not allow droplets to move out, people should be able to breathe, it should be breathable, washable, I think it is perfectly fine to brand them," says Shefalee Vasudev.

Well, what we can say is that according to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global face mask market is predicted to go as high as $2.45 billion by 2027. [5] It is highly subjective whether masks should become a trend but we see no harm in it becoming a trend that caters to masses like sunglasses.

Cover Picture Source: Fabindia