Fashion, for many, is all about fantasy. In normal circumstances, this week we would have spent several days picking apart the outrageous outfits of celebrities attending the Met Gala (the theme would have been About Time: Fashion and Duration). But instead, at least here in Illinois, we’re left to contemplate a future with a mandatory, less-than-fantastical item: the face mask.
Roger Rodriguez from Jugrnaut is also getting creative with materials, in part because fabric stores have closed. “I found some old vintage polo bear fabrics and coffee sacks that were given to me by Dark Matter Coffee,” he says. “I had them dyed by a good friend Saint Millie, and I created my first batch of masks with those materials.” He envisions a future where people have a different mask for each day of the week or each outfit, and he wanted to get a jump on creating “dope” masks for people who want to stand out.
Hood is also using this opportunity to support others. She’s hiring out-of-work comedians to make deliveries instead of relying on the now overloaded post office, accepting donations to send supplies to the team of nurses with Krucial Staffing in New York pop-up COVID hospitals, and donating masks to the Daybreak Shelter in Joliet.
