Are you looking for a fancy face mask? We’re not surprised! In the times of coronavirus , fashion lovers have been adapting their style to the “new normal” – and the new safety requirements that come along with it – making medical face masks the latest hot fashion trend . In fact, Lyst recently announced that for 2020, the top selling item in the men’s fashion category was the $95 arrow design face mask by Virgil Abloh’s streetwear brand Off-White.
Street style is going to be defined by face masks for at least the near future, and stars have already been leading the way with this modern new accessory. Billie Eilish famously wore a custom Gucci mask to the Grammy Awards in January – and she was way ahead of her time as that was back when COVID-19 hadn’t yet made an impact in the US.
Travis Scott, Future and Young Thug have long been rocking face masks for fashion, and Nick Cannon wore a Louis Vuitton coverup to the MTV Movie Awards in 2019. But it looks like we’ll be seeing everyone, not just celebrities, looking to up their mask game.
Sites like Etsy and Amazon seem to have more options than ever, especially now that it looks like face masks are going to be recommended if not required for in the longer term. “The coronavirus pandemic has seen more labels enter the mask market, and a 496% surge in searches for fashion face masks over the quarter,” said a Lyst spokesperson. “Millions of shoppers worldwide are searching for masks by Off-White, as well as by Fendi , Bape and Marcelo Burlon.”
Sheron Barber of L.A.-based West Coast Haze, who designed Nick Cannon’s MTV look and whose clients also include Bad Bunny and Post Malone, is one go-to designer for custom couture face masks created with luxe materials from fashion houses from Goyard to Louis Vuitton. West Coast Haze’s handmade leather masks have three layers of filters – the same filters found inside of N95 masks – and can also fit over a mask you already have.