South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Designers take on mask challenge
‘Project Runway’ designers take on the challenge of the face mask
A face mask may protect us, but is it too early to think about how it may project us, too?
A mask with a designer name. A highfashion label. A statement piece worthy of “Project Runway”?
“At first, it was just let me protect myself – I’ll take whatever mask I can get!” says Delray Beach designer Amanda Perna, who appeared on seasons 9 and 14 of the hit reality TV series. “The masks we’re going to be launching [soon] are going to have big bows and things, because people may be going to work or trying to get back to real life, but they still want to look cute. They don’t want to look horrible.”
She and fellow South Florida “Project
Runway” alum Jhoan “Sebastian’’ Grey, who won the series in 2019, have been doing a lot of quick thinking lately – as quick as they did under Tim Gunn or Christian Siriano’s watchful make-itwork-or-else mentorship – about how the face mask might become a more permanent feature of our attire going forward.
“Some designers are going to have masks attached to your clothes, and part of the garment, so you don’t have to worry, where is my mask?” says Grey, who’s been sketching mask designs from quarantine in his home in Wilton Manors. “I think we’re going to start to see more cool ways to wear a mask or different ways to use it.”
Such innovation, as we know, often comes from troubled times. Synthetic
rubber, for example, from World War II military vehicles. Moon rockets, from Cold War missiles. Invading Roman soldiers wore focales around their necks – the great grandfather of the tie we’ll shop for on Father’s Day – to keep their armor from chafing their necks.
Could coronavirus forcing us to wear face masks leave us with some stylish and long-standing accessory, too? Something people might even look forward to wearing?
“The fashionistas of the world are going to embrace the mask and really use it as an accessory,” Perna says. She’s already worked up several looks – just for decoration, not for protection – in colorful, comfortable cotton, tulle and lamé, which will be available for about $75 when she launches later this month or early next. Her more protective masks, in 100-percent cotton with a non-woven lining inside, are available now for $25.
“We are doing a buy one, donate one where for every purchase we donate one to a front-line worker,” she says. “We have already sold enough to donate 5,000 masks.”
As for Grey, his face wrap design is still under wraps. But he offers a few peeks.
“In this situation, when we have to think out of the box, it’s when we’re going to see more creative things,” he says. “So I think we’re really going to see really cool masks, really new-wave bandanas or being integrated into clothes.”
Will we be seeing these looks out there in the real world, once we can sit shoulder to shoulder again along a fashion runway? Or a cocktail party? Or a grocery store aisle?
We organized a small “Project Runway”-style judging panel of our own to decide if the initial designs were In or Out.
Palm Beach social influencer Morgan of @mamainmanolos on Instagram: “Personally I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of a mask as my new accessory. But I’m trying to lean into what designers are making because masks may be here to stay for a while. If a pretty mask is safe, secure, and following safety guidelines, I say go for it!”
Fort Lauderdale personal stylist Anne Morrissey, looking over Perna’s collection on Instagram: “I would absolutely wear the floral dress with the blue mask! As a stylist, I’m curious to see how people will feel like dressing in the future.”
Lindsey Swing, Delray Beach resident and coauthor of the fashion blog LL Scene: “You’re going to have to count me out for something like this for everyday use, but I think that the dress/mask combination in the middle [of the photo above] would speak more to the general public for a gala, wedding, or fancy event. Adjusting to this new way of life and incorporating style on top of it all is going to be tricky.”
In the end, at least for now with masks, safety trumps fashion, says the 2019 winner of “Project Runway.”
“When you wear a mask, I hope people mostly see that you’re protecting yourself and your family,” Grey says. “So it’s not so much a question of how cool or how fashionable I’m going to be with my mask, it’s more about being safe and keeping safe for everyone else.”