Welcome to Slow Facts, a monthly column from Yasmin Ahram and Céline Semaan of the Slow Factory Foundation that dives into topics at the intersection of climate and culture to educate and provide resources to inspire informed action. In this column, Yasmin explores the homemade mask movement and what resourcefulness in fashion says about sustainability.
In the face of a mask shortage and with the CDC’s latest recommendation to wear cloth face coverings, the homemade mask movement’s sweeping effect on culture is proving that sustainability can be easier than you think. As we work together toward a common goal of conquering this pandemic, people have shown one another (and themselves!) that they have the ability to be resourceful and supportive in times of crisis. That was never the issue with climate change. The real hurdle always lay in making the effort to participate.
When medical workers initially had to resort to using makeshift Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like bandannas in mid-March, before more PPE became available, Governor Andrew Cuomo called on companies to help produce homemade masks for New York and the fashion industry responded. Designer Christian Siriano was among the first to spearhead the movement and then fashion houses around the world including Dior, Burberry, and Giorgio Armani temporarily repurposed their ateliers to produce PPE to donate to hospitals around the world. Smaller designers such as Nia Thomas, Collina Strada, and Makayla Wray followed suit.
Now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended everyone wear cloth facial coverings when in public, more brands and designers have stepped up to make and sell masks to keep their businesses afloat. Simultaneously, people quarantining have begun making their own with what they have at home. Tutorials for homemade masks have flooded YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, and DIY instructions are posted on the CDC’s website. While some are more intricate, like this one with a filter pocket, there is a trend in no-sew tutorials that repurpose things we all probably have at home. People are upcycling and challenging one another on social platforms to do the same, without explicitly saying (or knowing?) that they are upcycling.
During WWII, women developed the skills and knowledge to use the little they had to make and preserve things in order to extend an item’s their life cycle. The British Ministry of Information issued a pamphlet entitled “Make Do and Mend” in 1943, a guide with tips and design ideas to reusing old clothing in times of rationing. From “unpick and knit again” to “new life for old woollies,” this mindset and approach is what sustainability is about. Although the lack that exists today isn’t comparable by any means, the call for cloth facial coverings has forced us to rethink our approach to the apparel we own and created a revival of making things ourselves. Sustainability is not a myth, it’s something we’ve forgotten, and this movement has shown us just how easy it is to unlearn the habits of compulsive consumerism and learn how to be creative and resourceful.
Many designers are applying this framework by repurposing deadstock fabric or using their own fabric for masks rather than for their own apparel. Sheena Sood of Abacaxi is using leftover cotton fabrics from her shop and Sarah Law, designer of Kara, shares her process using materials she has at home. “You [can] make two or three. You’re making something that’s washable and you’re not taking from a supply that should be donated to health care facilities,” says Law.
Like any sustainable practice, making due and mending is a concept that traces back to Indigenous history. “The idea of no waste, of using something for as many purposes as possible until there’s nothing left… is a very traditional Indigenous practice. You’re showing gratitude for something that’s given,” says designer Korina Emmerich. Through her label Emme, Emmerich has been making masks using contemporary native artwork as an opportunity to preserve her culture and act as “a commentary on biological warfare and pollution destroying Indigenous lands and our health, ” according to a March 31 post on the label’s Instagram. Experts have found that Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by climate change and air pollution, contributing to the protests against ongoing pipeline proposition and violations of land rights. Emmerich uses the masks, made of cotton and wool (for warmth) as a way to call attention to the juxtaposition of tradition and destruction.
“A big issue with sustainability is not that we don’t have enough resources or materials. It’s that they’re not properly distributed and the effects of human activities are not equally distributed,” says Theanne Schiros, an assistant professor of science and sustainability at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and an innovator in this year’s One X One sustainability initiative. She suggests looking at the community-led inclusive partnerships, such as mutual aid groups happening in places like New York City, and leveraging that new way of interacting beyond the pandemic. “I think it’s laying the groundwork for applying systems of thinking and community action for sustainability at scale.”
From designers like Pyer Moss’s Kerby Jean-Raymond turning his studio into a donation center to people starting groups like Bushwick Mutual Aid, which works to assist more vulnerable and marginalized communities, it’s showing that sustainability is not something you buy, it’s a culture.
This is a time to rethink and redesign the systems that are failing us with circularity at the forefront. Reusability and sustainability are at the heart of this movement, igniting possibilities to apply this thinking to create a systemic impact on a larger scale. “Maybe this influx of lovingly made, donated, reusable masks will help inspire a precedent for designing hospitals of the future with the functional value of reusability in mind,” says MI Leggett, designer of Official Rebrand, who is also making homemade masks to donate and sell. (The label typically focuses on upcycling and waste reduction.)
Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour is making masks from a deadstock yellow plaid fabric that would otherwise act as a lining for fall jackets. Sustainable practices are pillars of Teymour’s label, so it was only natural that her masks reflect that. Although her studio is currently closed, the business will be fully functioning once New York is open, highlighting the value of local production as a sustainable system. As to the individual efforts we can be making to reevaluate our own sustainable practices, she advises us to take this time to “look at things in a different light, to see their purpose and how they can play a role in your life.”
In periods of chaos and stress, communities seem to organize to favor autonomy and become resourceful in the face of scarcity. Designing solutions out of necessity is the backbone of a sustainable movement. Regenerative networks as we are seeing in the homemade mask movement are guides for us to follow in tackling the ongoing climate crisis. Sustainability is a way of living, it thrives on unity and joint effort. With the fashion industry on a complete stall, sustainability becomes a much easier concept to grasp, one that we are hopeful will allow designers and brands to rethink current systems to reflect the effort beyond masks.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue