Masks and new trends

My Mariam ATEF

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, many businesses have been racing to create the perfect, one-of-a-kind face mask.

Some of them succeeded in bringing great-looking protective masks to the table, and for that exact reason, we picked up the most creative face masks in the market for you. Our favourite pick is a mask by MAM because it looks good and is practical.

THE FUTURISTIC FACE MASKS

Electronics company Razer™ created The Project Hazel masks aimed to ensure optimal breathability, as they have high bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) Smart Pods that filter more than 95% of airborne particles and regulate airflow.

The mask has a transparent, clear design that allows people around you to tell when you’re smiling, laughing, or frowning.

If it gets dark, lights inside the mask activate automatically, which allows wearers to express their feelings under any lighting conditions.

Co-founder and CEO of Razer Min-Liang Tan said: “The Project Hazel smart mask concept is intended to be functional, yet comfortable and useful for interacting with the world while maintaining a sociable aesthetic.”

THE BRIDE‘S FACE MASK

Created by a Turkish goldsmith, the golden face mask was made to give pandemic brides the bridal feeling they deserve.

“We saw that the regular face mask does not really visually comple ment the brides,” Creator Hacı Mustafa Öz said.

Without a doubt, wearing this eye-dazzling, $10,000 golden mask at your wedding will surely leave a lasting impression!

THE EMPEROR’S FACE MASK

Fashion designer Kennedy Gasper took regular face masks to a whole new (royal) level! If empires were still as prominent, you’d probably see emperors wearing this luxury face mask.

Kennedy Gasper said that both the face mask and the headdress are inspired by Thai fashion.

THE ARTISTIC FACE MASKS

Anne Sophie Cochevelou, a Londonbased jewellery and costume designer, has created a few of the most artistic face masks we‘ve seen. To create them, she used pop culture toys, faux gems, and decorative accessories.

Anne Sophie views masks as a new way to shape our faces, not to hide them:

“T hey bring new narratives to the face. Another layer of meaning through another layer of fabric”.

 THE SUPER STYLISH FACE MASKS OF MAM

Once we took a look at the successful business, MAM, we decided to talk to its creative director about their start, beautiful jewelry collection, and of course, their notable success of MAM's unique face masks.

A STORY OF SUCCESS

4 years ago, MAM started to design and sell unique watches, especially the wooden ones. Founded by Jordi Enrique Albert and Anthya Tirado, they wanted to make something new, innovative, and practical, away from the big wooden watches common in the market. So, they set themselves a goal to create watches that are as thin and minimal as they could be, despite the nature of wood, which makes it hard to create such thin watches. And guess what, MAM now has the thinnest wooden watches in the market.

After achieving massive success in selling watches, they dreamed bigger and decided to create their own unique accessories. And now they are an enviably successful accessory brand.

And they didn’t stop there. MAM went further in 2019, designing eye-dazzling jewelry that attracted buyers from all parts of the world. And as a result, jewelry is now their biggest category.

The MAM team has even been designing bags recently, and not surprisingly, their success can already be noticed worldwide, especially in Asia and Spain.

WHAT MAKES MAM STAND OUT

Once you go MAM you can’t go back! Most of MAM’s customers become loyal and re-engage with the brand. In turn, the brand engages with them, which makes it different from other brands in the market.

Their uniquely designed jewelry can’t be found anywhere else, as it doesn’t distinguish itself through just design, but by reinventing the way people interact with their jewelry, as well as the way they wear it.

For them, jewelry goes beyond body parts (ears, neck, fingers, etc.). For example, MAM creates innovative jewelry for hair, like hair cuffs.

Their jewelry has the liking of a modern person who’s into the city lifestyle, for most part people whose ages range from 25-40. For those people, MAM’s jewelry is a source of empowerment through style. It’s about enjoying good art, and because they love the social lifestyle of a city, they like jewelry that expresses their individuality and makes them stand out from the crowd.

Good news is their jewelry is genderless, so the sky is the limit when it comes to combinations.

IF WE’RE GOING TO WEAR MASKS, WHY NOT DO IT IN STYLE?

During their trip to Asia, Anthya Tirado, the creative director of MAM, and partner Jordi Enrique Albert, noticed that wearing masks was already part and parcel of their culture.

They noticed in Japan, for example, that people were really well-dressed. However, they were missing one important accessory: good-looking masks. Starting at that point two years ago, they decided to make fashionable masks.

They made their very first prototypes from scarves, and after putting 10 different designs under trial, they finally came to this spectacular design.

It’s true that they created these masks before the crisis of Covid-19, but now the demand on their uniquely-designed masks is at its peak!

What’s so special about their design is that there are several versions of the same design but with different colors, so you can always play around with the different combinations.

THE CREATIVE MINDS BEHIND MAM

Anthya and Jordi are always trying to think outside the box and create extraordinary designs that the world has never seen, and that’s where it all started.

Their biggest challenge is trying not to go overboard with the designs, as they need to be comfortable and relatable to people.

Anthya sees that being a jeweler or a designer is a plus in terms of creativity, as jewelers can always try their ideas out and see whether they work or not.

When we asked Anthya if there’s any other jewelry brand she looked up to, her answer was no, as searching for creativity in the world of jewelry wouldn’t work. It’s all about inspirations in other worlds. Everything they do is based on the latest trends in fashion, and they are always responsive to changes in these trends.