00:00Hi, I'm Connie Wang, executive editor of Refinery29, and I write about how what we
00:04wear connects to our culture. In February of this year, I found myself struggling to
00:09write an article about this rash of violence against Asian Americans who chose to wear face
00:13masks in public. The CDC had said face masks did little to prevent the spread of this disease
00:18that was ravaging China, but wasn't yet in America. In fact, civilians who wore them would
00:24be committing a deeply selfish act. Every person you saw on the subway in a mask meant there was
00:29one less for medical professionals in hospitals. I had a hard time figuring out how I could get
00:34this point across. To those who grew up around SARS, they believed masks worked in stopping the spread
00:39of disease. It wasn't controversial, self-centered, or anti-science. Masks as a daily accessory was just
00:46a fact of life. How could I explain that to Americans who rarely saw them in public? Fast forward six
00:53months, one pandemic, and over 170,000 American deaths. Everything has changed. It wasn't until
01:00early April when the CDC finally acknowledged that non-medical masks were effective in slowing the
01:05spread of COVID-19 that folks were able to wear them with science on their side. But by then, more
01:11than
01:1110,000 Americans had already died. Today, we know the difference between N95s and non-medical cloth masks.
01:17We have etiquette around exercising, grocery shopping, and taking public transportation in masks.
01:22We also know that not everyone is willing to wear them. To some, masks have become so politicized to
01:28the detriment of our public health. Six months ago, most Americans couldn't tell you where to buy a
01:33facial mask. These days, most Americans likely own at least one. This sudden demand, and therefore
01:40sudden need to supply them, predictably, has thrown the fashion industry for a loop. The pandemic has already
01:45upended production capabilities and supply chains, as well as ransacked consumers' pocketbooks,
01:50and thus their abilities and appetite to purchase new clothing and accessories.
01:54But masks have become a necessity. So what now? Some designers like Christian Siriano,
02:01Rachel Comey, and Dove Charney quickly turned their factories into creating non-medical PPE,
02:05or personal protective equipment. But creating masks to some was not only a charitable act, but also a
02:11potential financial life raft to offset the loss in revenue of apparel, occasion wear, and typically
02:17reliable fashion categories. Etsy reported the company earned $346 million in three months alone
02:23from selling masks, a category that just didn't exist three months prior. But the late adoption of masks
02:30presented a moral predicament for those interested in making them. Start producing fun masks and risk being
02:36labeled as cashing in on a health crisis, ignore it, and risk being seen as negligent. The result was
02:42predictably chaos. In fact, Dove Charney's LA apparel factories, which reopened to churn out masks to a
02:49swarm of positive press, later became a hotbed for infection. Over 300 workers contracted coronavirus,
02:56and four died before the county's Department of Public Health ordered the factories to close.
03:01For all these reasons, you can't find face masks on luxury retail sites. I don't know any other
03:07product that's been as politicized to the extent that retailers feel the need to bury them away and
03:12hide them. When you search for face masks on luxury fashion retailers, you're more likely to come across
03:17$95 SK-II facial treatment sheet masks than PPE. High-end designer versions of masks do exist, but they've been
03:26created by younger, more progressive labels like Marine Serre, Kalina Strada, and Off-White, and they're
03:32going to cost you well into the hundreds. In case you were curious, here are some of the most expensive
03:36masks I could find on the internet. And this one from Off-White, the highest bid is for $222, but
03:44they're
03:44asking for $410 for one. But at least for now, people are still buying masks, and that might not change
03:52for a
03:52while. That begs the question, when it comes to masks and fashion, are they just a trend? Will they
03:57disappear with the implementation of a vaccine, or has this pandemic effectively created a whole new
04:02category for designers? If we look to East Asian countries who dealt with SARS for any guidance,
04:09mask wearing has remained a habit for most people. But there, masks are, for the most part,
04:13a purely utilitarian tool. Blue and white medical masks are as common an accessory as sunglasses or
04:19headphones. But there, you're unlikely to see fashion masks. But will that spirit extend back
04:24to the US, where our tendency to value individualism over collectivism has pushed back on the mass
04:30adoption of masks and, hello, allow the continued spread of COVID? Some fashion designers are wary of
04:35investing too much in masks, lest the public's need and desire for non-medical masks disappear after a
04:40vaccine. It's possible that Americans' instincts towards self-expression and originality will lead to a
04:46real opportunity for fashion masks to flourish. It says something about American culture that we
04:51immediately pivot from wearing something that is functional and does the job to wearing something
04:55that expresses my personality or that makes me look or feel good. That pivot from essential item to
05:01fashion item is something that's quite peculiar to the American market. It speaks to the American
05:06sense of individuality, but also entrepreneurialism.
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