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A Wellington hat maker is entering the face mask business, and is betting that they will be a permanent fixture of post-Covid life.
Hills Hats general manager Simon Smuts-Kennedy said the 145-year-old business made hats for everyone from music bands to police and fashion.
Now he wants to use his hat know-how and existing machinery to produce face masks.
The factory was well set up to seamlessly transition to mask making.
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“There are a lot of different base materials and shapes we use that fit many different parts of the head. So that transition to getting a mask on the back of the head was something I really wanted to drive right away,” he said. . .
The masks are fastened to the back of the head so that users do not have to worry about hanging around the ears or having to touch their face when putting it on or taking it off.
They have been designed to be reusable and washable, with filters that can be replaced as needed.
But Smuts-Kennedy is thinking beyond the merely practical.
“There is no reason this is not a fashion item. There is no reason that your mask does not match your hat,” he said.
A range of fabrics would be available from floral to houndstooth, some will even feature images from Kiwiana, Smuts-Kennedy said.
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Simon Smuts-Kennedy, general manager of Hills Hats in matching hats and masks. “There is no reason why this should not be a fashion item,” he says.
Future plans include an exclusive range of matching masks and hats.
A mask with three basic filters sells online for $ 35, while a mask with three technical filters sells for $ 45.
The masks can be washed and reused indefinitely, in theory they last as long as a shirt, he said.
Smuts-Kennedy believes that coughing and sneezing in public will be frowned upon for a long time and hopes that people will choose to keep a mask in their car or bag to use as needed.
Although the masks use high-quality technical filters made from wool, they are not medically certified.
They consist of four layers: a linen or cotton base, then a lightweight material to give it body, then the filter, followed by an antibacterial fabric that wicks moisture away from the skin. This same material is used for the lining of the technical hats made by the company.
The company was already delivering the masks to electricians, post office and others, and received permission from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to manufacture the masks on April 20. Companies from all over New Zealand and even from abroad had been consulting, Smuts-Kennedy said. .
Production capacity at the Petone factory was between 400 and 500 masks a day, if the company focused solely on producing masks, he said.
