Face masks are here to stay?

There is no denying the fact that the phrase “new normal” has become rather old and redundant in the year 2020. Nonetheless, the phrase has become common lingo in today’s conversation and so, it is important to ask, that what is this new normal? It is social distancing and seated concerts, it is sanitizing yourself, your groceries and everything within your range of touch, it is doing just your eye-makeup and not wearing gloss because you have a facemask on. In the imagined post COVID world, social distancing continues to be every introvert’s dream and sanitization counts as basic cleanliness, but

• Where do face masks fit in?
• Will they stay?
• Will they be a part of our lives for forevermore? Or,
• Will they leave?

Be just a part of the COVID world? While the latter of the two sets of questions would be the ideal dream of a claustrophobic person, in reality, it looks like the former will prevail.

Trends suggest that face masks are indeed here to stay. Face masks have evolved from being just an essential item to an essential item that can also be aesthetic and fashionable. They have indeed wormed their way into the fashion and couture world. The idea behind this inclusion is rather simple to understand, the world is slowly opening up again but is still battling the Corona Virus, which means that while normalcy will trickle back in, we need to remain guarded and safe. There was also a realisation that wearing a mask was not just to protect oneself but also to protect others. Prioritising others as much as one would prioritise themselves, is perhaps one of the most selfless acts committed by humankind. This realisation some belief garnered a feeling of community, togetherness- that no one was going through this alone and that each one stood for the other. Thus, wearing a mask took on a whole new meaning. The mask, in a short span of time evolved from being just the medical kind (blue and mismatched with every outfit), to colourful and safe, to having logos and prints. Realising that masks were here to stay, there was a swift movement by many small scale and independent entrepreneurs as well as big fashion houses to produce their own masks. Thus, function truly met form and the once essential item was quick to be commercialised. Suddenly, there was a flurry of masks being sold both in the Indian market as well as internationally. They were available in block prints, colourful ethnic designs, knitted and woven masks, designer masks. The commercialisation of masks on one end of the spectrum gave wings to a lot of small and independent entrepreneurs who could now sit at home and earn money (especially in a situation where economies everywhere were tanking, and unemployment was all-time high). On the other end, however, the status of the masks was upgraded from being essential items to being luxurious items. Suddenly, the rich in the society could continue to distinguish themselves from the rest of the society by wearing designer masks made by Louis Vuitton, Victoria Secrets and Ralph Lauren to name a few. The investments and evolvement of the face masks from being merely medical, blue and boring to fashionable, commercial and colourful is just one of the many indicators that go to show that masks have now become a deeply ingrained part of our lives. They are not just a reminder of having lived through a pandemic, but they are very much here to stay.