How Fashion Found its Most Prime Real Estate–Your Face
Image Courtesy: Footwear News
We have to give it to Billie Eilish and Future–they gave us an insight into 2020/2021 fashion without even knowing it. Prior to the pandemic, Billie wore a Gucci mask to the 2020 Grammy’s and Future wore a mask to promote his infamous Mask Off in 2017. (How could he predict its new relevancy in 2021?) Masks have gone from something reserved for medical professionals to an accessory worn by everyone, every day. The state of fashion always reflects the state of the political union, and from this we can see more interest being taken up by the general public on what their face covering looks like.
Image Courtesy: Deadset
Masks are nothing new to preventing disease and also are nothing new to fashion. Masks have been seen on runways of different fashion weeks for years. Masks popularity can be credited to Asian cultures, where it is seen as courteous to others to wear a mask when you are not feeling well. Masks also protect against pollution which is a growing problem, not just in Asia, but all around the world. Trend predictors foresee masks sticking around. Before anyone had heard of COVID-19, WGSN, a trend forecasting company, saw masks growing in trend due to pollution. Some people predict masks staying in circulation for the foreseeable future due to cramped cities, air quality, and the fact that we have all become a little more health conscious in the past year.
Believe it or not, the mask debate dates back to the 1910s. The gauze facial coverings of the Spanish Flu were often not worn by men, who associated masks with femininity and feminine careers, like nursing. The different associations with wearing masks are all too familiar in today’s political climate. Politicians are taking shots at each other about what “real men and women” or “free thinkers” should and shouldn’t wear on their face. A tactic used in 1918 to encourage mask wearing was to publish incentives in newspapers for women to make their masks fashionable by adding lace or color.
Using aesthetics to promote wearing masks is still a tactic used today, and it works. At the start of quarantine, “face mask” was by far the most popular search on Etsy and people still continue their search to express themselves through the mandatory cloth on their face. Sports teams have capitalized on masks, as they have been given another avenue to market fan apparel and now fans have another way to show their team loyalty.
Masks have made their way from Etsy to fashion weeks worldwide. Major fashion labels like Tory Burch have not just created a line of cloth face masks, but also a mask chain. Off-White, Ferragamo, Dolce&Gabbana, and Tom Ford are just some of the names among those selling masks at Neiman Marcus.
Image Courtesy: FashionUnited
Image Courtesy: FashionUnited
Masks have no doubt become staples of wardrobe, but unlike a jacket or cardigan, they cannot be removed and are necessary to go into public spaces. Much like in 1918, mask fashion encourages the wearing of masks, so why not use it to our advantage? What we create and popularize in today’s culture will be what future historians study, and in 2021 that means making our mandatory facial coverings Burberry.
Strike Out,
Annie McGrath
Boca Raton