At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, fashion designer Chelsea Klukas of Lumen Couture planned to make some standard cloth face masks for friends. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using homemade facial covers to prevent the spread of the virus.
Lumen Couture has a full line of tech fashion, including dresses, sweatshirts, and costumes, and Klukas switched to masks when in-person events were canceled and sales of other products plummeted. He decided to add the technology to make the masks a little more fun.
“I had the components, so I put together a quick DIY tutorial on YouTube on how to make them,” Klukas said in an interview with The edge. “That really blew up, to the point where people asked me for a ready-to-wear mask.”
He added that he did not want to appear to be trying to capitalize on the pandemic, so Lumen Couture donated the proceeds from sales of the mask through June, about $ 5,000, to the World Organization’s COVID-19 relief fund. Health.
The customers who buy the masks are a completely different demographic from their regular clientele, adds Klukas, and have seen more male customers than expected, most of whom would not describe themselves as fashionistas.
She adds that she believes that having masks that anyone can wear will help make them a statement wardrobe item. “I think we are seeing the introduction of the use of masks as a new form of expression. Other fashion designers are also learning this, I think we will start to see how the Rolex version of the masks ”.
The LED display mask has a slim LED matrix display, and users can control what it displays (drawings, custom text, and even voice input) through an app. The fabric is breathable above and below the screen, and the technological components can be removed so that the mask can be washed or used as a normal mask. A battery and charging cable are included.
The app offers a microphone input, and some users use it to display social distancing messages, such as “go back” or “6 feet,” which can be difficult to hear someone say with their mouths covered.
The hardest part of designing clothes with LED lighting components is where and how to hide the batteries, Klukas said. “There are some tricks where you can hide in a dress with a fluffy skirt, for example,” he said, “but if you want to do something elegant and tight, it’s more of a challenge.”
The masks have been his best-selling item by far, but Klukas says he can’t wait to return to the shows in person, where people can touch and experience the LED clothing in person. “Especially with some of the more adventurous pieces, people will come up to see the magic, and it’s difficult to show that through the video,” he said. “The person who wears fashion is part of the story, and does not convey the story as well on a flat screen.”
