Top Houston Designer Takes on Face Masks Issue in Ultra-Fashionable and Altruistic Way

With the protective mask even more important an accessory than a designer handbag these days, we take another look at the future of fashion in the time of a health crisis. New York governor Andrew Cuomo was one of the first to issue an order requiring all New Yorkers to wear protective masks when in public, and Austin is under a similar edict, with stores not allowing customers who aren’t wearing a mask in.

San Antonio and Dallas have both announced their own new face-masks-in-public-spaces rule. (Houston is the only one of Texas’ four biggest cities that has not mandated them yet.) Can a national rule be far behind?

Houston designer David Peck jumped on the mask-production train early in this journey into an alternate reality. To date, he has donated 4,000 masks to healthcare workers and first responders. He has 9,500 in production and has received requests for 8,000.

While he’s among a number of designers and crafters who have begun producing masks, his was an altruistic effort that he entered into with serious forethought.

“I hesitated at first to produce masks because I didn’t want to create a product that caused people to feel safer than they actually were, since we weren’t equipped to make N95 masks,” Peck tells PaperCity. “However, it quickly became clear that any protection was needed, especially for front-line responders.”

After much research, he learned that non-woven polypropylene offers better filtration than just plain cotton. His team added a nose wire and chin elastic for an optimal fit. They are designed to fit over the #N95. He cautions that his masks are not FDA approved and are not a substitute for the surgical #N95.

“At first, we funded the project by donations through our website, but the demand was greater than we could have anticipated. Also, we were getting requests every day for personal-use masks,” he tells PaperCity.

His website shares that after launching the mask production, he was flooded with requests from doctors, nurses, and health organizations for more. To meet the demand, he launched the “Buy 1, Give 1” mask program on April 3.

For each individual purchase, a mask goes to a front-line warrior in the battle against COVID-19. The masks sell for $25 and come in adult and child sizes. They’re designed to fit over an existing #N95 mask to help prolong the use.

The masks are quite fashionable, with popular prints and patterns that give an uplifting edge to the seriousness of the issue.

Peck’s website also features a coronavirus mask how-to-make tutorial.

Others in Houston are also providingmasks as needed, including designer and Project Runway winner Chloe Dao and Magpies & Peacocks.