Today, New York-based fashion label Alice & Olivia announced that it will donate 5,000 face masks to medical centers around the country, including a center for abuse victims in Manhattan and a cancer facility in Arizona, and that it would also begin selling very on-brand face masks to consumers. For every face mask purchased, the brand will also donate one to the medical community.
While many fashion brands — big and small — have begun manufacturing face masks for healthcare workers around the world, Alice & Olivia is one of the first large brands to sell them commercially, and to make them into something of a fashion statement.
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“Wearing masks is our shared responsibility to protect each other and reduce community transmission in order to stop the spread of the virus,” Stacey Bendet, the founder and CEO of Alice & Olivia, says in a press release. “Let’s #MaskTogether and show support for our community and the doctors, nurses, delivery workers, and first responders who are combatting this crisis on the front lines.”
This announcement follows one made by President Donald Trump on Friday, which shared a change in the CDC’s recommendation regarding the use of protective face masks for everyone, not just healthcare workers or those who are taking care of COVID-19 patients at home. According to his announcement, the CDC only calls for cloth masks, like the ones being produced and sold by Alice & Olivia, rather than medical-grade masks, which should be reserved for doctors and nurses.
As predicted, news like this caused a surge in mask purchases this weekend. Another NY-based brand Monogram reported selling over 10,000 face masks in just 24 hours. Their factory is now trying to quickly produce more to keep up with demand following President Trump’s announcement.
The Alice & Olivia masks, which can be pre-ordered starting today for $10 each, are made from a breathable jersey fabric and feature the brand’s iconic “Stace Face” pattern. For now, these masks do not contain medical filters, however, the brand announced today that future masks will, indeed, feature a filter component, the likes of which will be designed using remnant poplin materials from past Alice & Olivia collections.
So, if you too want to look cute while simultaneously following CDC recommendations, pre-order your Alice & Olivia Stace Face mask now on aliceandolivia.com.