Coverbocas made by Mexican designers because you want to see 'chic' in the new normality

By Felipe Haro and Uriel Trejofotos Fernando Canseco and Sergio Bejarano

Creating empathy with the current situation and contributing style have become the basis for designers such as Alejandra Quesada, Patricio Campillo, Vanessa Guckel, Sandra Weil, Laura Meléndrez and Montserrat Messeguer elaborating covers, article that will become an important part of our new normality.

The current world situation has led us to take measures that will be an important part of our day to day for a good time, such as the use of the covers, a piece that is integrated into everyone's lifestyle for offering an option to take care of us and protectTo others.

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Given such a panorama, creativity has led fashion designers to re -re -pre -re -pre -masks so that beyond fulfilling their function, they help in the sustainable issue, when elaborating so that they can be washed and reused, and print a different and fun touchto any outfit.

En nuestro país, varias son las firmas y creativos que se han dado a la tarea de hacer su propia versión, como Alejandra Quesada, Patricio Campillo de The pack, Vanessa Guckel de Cihuah, Sandra Weil, Laura Meléndrez de Amor & Rosas, y Montserrat Messeguer de Lydia Lavin, quienes nos cuentan de esta aventura con la que enfrentan la nueva normalidad.

Cihuah

[Vanessa Guckel, founder of Cihuah.Photos Fernando Canseco and Sergio Bejarano]

For Vanessa Guckel, founder of Cihuah, confinement was a personal and professional introspection experience.“I could really stop my rhythm of life that I had very accelerated to be able to become aware of me and others.My quarantine was very creative, with a lot of research and readings that led me to make important decisions in my life and in my work, ”he says.

Decisions that initiated with its cover line.“Today, each brand and/or designer has a very important responsibility with the products they offer.Everything must have a reason for being, we can no longer produce for producing or designing anything else because we like it.Create a line of covers made all sense of pandemic and economic crisis.We had double need, to protect our community and to continue with our brand so that our team can continue working without losing their job ”.

This is how this project started that began from scratch.

“The first we did were with fabric pieces, but then we wanted to increase the level of protection and the use of microfiber fabric was necessary.For the print, the concept was to take a sheet of paper, draw and capture my emotions and thoughts at the beginning of confinement.I was very afraid, uncertainty and concerns.RALLANDO PLASS We obtained an interesting graphic game with pure lines.When I already managed to see the positive side of this experience, I began to use colors referring to the tones of water, earth and nature (blue, cafes and green).There is always a positive side, it was a matter of paying attention and wanting to see it ".

Their pieces take care of the skin of those who use them, so they carry two layers of cloth, “the interior is 100% cotton and the exterior is 100% repellent microfiber.They are washable and reusable in order not to contaminate or create waste, ”he confirms.They can be acquired through Cihuah.As in its showroom, located in the Humboldt building, in article 123, number 116, Interior 208, in the Centro neighborhood.

“It is a fact that this pandemic was not the first or the last.Unfortunately we are living the consequences of what we humans have built over the years polluting and damaging our planet.Bacteria and viruses have always existed, but now they have a higher degree and we will have to learn to live with them with protection measures such as covers, ”says Vanessa, who is already working on projects such as the redesign of the business modelof the brand: “I hope that soon they can see the first significant changes.We are very excited and positive.We will create a change in the industry ".

Alejandra Quesada

[Mexican designer Alejandra Quesada.Photos Fernando Canseco and Sergio Bejarano]

Solidarity was the origin of Alejandra Quesada's project, who when she started the quarantine worked in the hostel of Our Lady of Lourdes and asked her some covers: “I saw that he had many pieces of past fabrics that I have accumulated, and said: 'Now they nowI'm going to do with prints and I'm going to sell them, whatever I raised I will donate to the shelter ', everything started, ”he recalls.

The mask structure arose from a model that her aunt found on the Internet and she also adapted it Alicia, a seamstress who works with her, gave her some tips like the tables.“My design is quite simple and practical, we grab the method from the beginning, what I try is that the print looks as well as possible, the challenge is more in the cut so that when joining it the drawing is seen in the right place".

Their creations are easy to take.I recommend my clients to take great care of them, to have a bag to keep them, to be labeled daily after being used because I think there is the key to help you take care of you and care for others;Some are double wears and double print, so you have to pay attention that you are using as interior and which one as an exterior so as not to confuse and not put it on the contaminated side ”.

They can be acquired in your Alejandraquesada online store.com, it has delivery throughout Mexico and the world, and will soon be for sale at Amazon.

While everything is restructured, the designer already works on several projects such as "My new collaboration with Sanrio and Hello Kitty, which comes out in August, and in October comes a surprise that I will talk to them, but it has to do with a movie".

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The pack

“It will definitely be a piece of everyday life in the coming months or years, not only because of the risk we run with Covid and because we have to live with that, at the end of the day we cannot expect to be removed from one day to another, moreWe have to learn to live with this disease, ”reflects Patricio Campillo, creative director of The pack.

“I decided to create a line of covers because it seemed to me that it is very importantIt is a linen treated with a formula that I developed that makes it very soft so that it wrinkles less, it turned out to be a great material for the mandabocas, fresh, with protection, which can be brought all day, wash easily and looks aesthetically”, Confesses.

Its pieces are double cape and have an inside compartment where you can put a triple layer surgical material filter, “in this way you have the protection of a surgical cover, but without being disposable, because it seems important to me to take care of the environment”.

For Patricio, this period has been a lotIt becomes the number one priority and it values the time I have with my family and with the people I want ”.

Your covers can be acquired in Thepack.mx or by direct message through any of its social networks, and from August they will be in the store of Guanajuato 131, Colonia Roma.They have delivery throughout the Republic, Latin America, the United States and Europe, and will soon be available to the US market through Amazon.

Sandra Weil

“It was a decision that cost me to take, it is not easy to get the idea that it is something that we will be constantly using.At the beginning it seemed a bit impressive to design and sell it, but over time I realized that it is an accessory that has become and will be a basic, necessary and even personal care.I realized that in case it is rare to have something in my face, so I hugged the circumstances and I turned them into something beautiful, that when you put it you do not feel that you are sick, but to taste, ”confesses Sandra Weil about her proposal toCoverbocas, which has liked a lot to include ribbons "with whom you can make a bun in your head, tie your hair, make a corbbat and give it a fun turn or fashion".

They are not official sanitary masks, but they are practical and useful as they are made with two layers of fabric, “the interior is pima cotton, which is the finest and delicate that exists, and that is recommended by the CDC, in addition toguarantees freshness and softness to your skin;And the exterior is decorative fabric that is usually thick and helps prevent particles entry.Another positive thing is that they are washable and reusable, they are also sustainable, they are made with balance or fabric residues of our cuts, it is a way to recycle our own fabrics and continue contributing to this philosophy of our brand that is of zero waste ”.

They are on sale in their Sandraweil online store.com, which is premiering design, and in its Polanco boutique that recently reopened its doors."They are two designs: the basic and the ribbons, and all the time there are new combinations, because as it is done with the retouching at all times we are experiencing and that makes it a lot of fun, we have eventually turned it into something Sandra Weil".

In addition to reflecting on living the present, Sandra rescues that in times of crisis great opportunities are born and the joke is adapt to circumstances and flow, which is why it is already ready to launch new initiatives.“We are going to get a capsule line with gender -free pieces, for men and women;And the following, as for August-September, will be our garments for home, excites me a lot because being in my own home what seems most to buy me a tablecloth, I know that it will not be a year of parties, or ofGreat social events, then it is a way of being in force, of staying and, really, to offer our community the product it needs, ”he concludes.

Amor & Rosas

Como la mayoría de la gente, Laura Meléndrez, funda­dora de Amor & Rosas, se vio en la necesidad de cerrar su taller por dos semanas, sin embargo, la situación no era sencilla, en especial para Ana, la encargada y mamá soltera, quien le expuso que no podía quedarse sin trabajo y la animó a hacer cubrebocas.

Ana created a sample that Laura began to move among her friends, acquaintances and customers, without waiting for the good response they had."We started on April 27 and for May 4 it was already crazy, that weekend I did not stop taking orders for Instagram, and I said: 'I must upload them to the website', it became full -time work andWe have a month with a lot of orders;Right now I think we have already sold as 3 thousand covers, ”she says excitedly.

The start was with an investigation into the requirements requested.The exterior is of the ecological fabrics with which we make our clothes, Cycle denim which is 100% cotton and is made of the waste of when you make clothes, create a thread and reprocess it;And the interior is a water repellent, with a material with which we make some jackets and that normally use it to make surgical uniform, we liked it because it is repellent and light, it has technology that lets you breathe and is antibacterial.

“We are making some Zero Waste versions, with the embroidery we had unused in the workshop, those are unique pieces, and also making designs based on our best selling garments.We have a lot of models, such as those of the Be Aware collection that is inspired by the animals in the extinction of Mexico and in the diversity of flora and fauna ”, in addition, they like to fulfill the wishes of their customers, so thatThey can make personalized orders, “the father of all this is that we enter to make covers because we were in crisis, we created them to get out of adversity and we are grateful to the people who are buying us in these times that money is so scarce, that's why we offer great service and quality ".

They are selling on their AMORANDROSA page.As in the Countess, in the store called artichoke and rosemary, they have shipments to all of Mexico and the United States;They are easy to take care of, they only require hand and iron them so that they return to their shape.They have three measures, boy for children, medium for women and big for men, although they adapt to the extent to them.

Meléndrez, together with his team, is ready to adapt his product to make it easier to sell by e-commerce, “I think there was an opportunity for us for direct sales with our customers and connect with them, because we have aBrand that has very deep things, all artisans, all the people with whom we collaborate and this story so that it makes sense is making community ”.

Lydia Lavín

The covers have become, for this Mexican brand, not only in a way of generating income, but of preserving their own philosophy of sharing well -being with all in these times of uncertainty.

In the firm creations headed by Lydia Lavín and her daughter Montserrat Messeguer, the luxury design work with Mexican textiles is combined, with characteristics that make them safe for daily use, all encompassed within a fair trade scheme that alsohas allowed to reactivate the economy of Mexican indigenous communities.

“It is an example of how we try to make a product that benefits many people, both the user and those behind.It is also the product that we have sold the most and what has kept us afloat in this season, although our online store remains active and with sales, ”says Messeguer, who is co -stress within the brand that bears the name of his mother."It has definitely helped us a lot, especially to keep the workshop active, because having a calendar full of projects, everything was changed for the year in".

What began as an alternative project that recycled the workshop, has become an important source of income for the brand and workers, but also an alternative to avoid the use of disposable or exclusive covers for doctors, especially now thatIt has become an article for daily use.

Each piece contains three layers, two thick, but spongy that does not produce suffocation, plus an interchangeable filter and an additional window to add an additional filter.

The textiles that they use have been created to have a long shelf life, do not shrink or detach, can be washed by hand with bar and cold water soap, do not require softener, but they must dry in the shade.

In addition, the importance of making them an attractive accessory through design has to do with the psychological aspect, Montserrat explains.

"That suddenly it can be something nice to see, it is quite dense to have to use tapping every day, but at least it is beautiful, it helps a lot".

In addition, they have become a symbol of the attitude with which the brand has faced the difficulties brought by the pandemic.

“He has taught us to be resilient, which is not easy.Accepting the situation exactly as it represents a challenge, but allows you to move according to this.He has also shown us the importance of not putting us into the center, but the most affected people.At first we consider closing the workshop and reducing ourselves to reduce costs, but the vision was changing to do everything possible so that all our collaborators can continue to have income and everything follows.It is a strong challenge, but it is about staying creative and resisting what happens, I think we have known how to answer and that gives me a lot of pride, ”says the designer.

With the same spirit of collective contribution, they have begun to develop a new program to put on sale the work of artisans that have been affected by quarantine through the brand platform, since as Messeguer shares: “The ideais to put your grain of sand in the positive, in the faith of being able to achieve it and not in defeatism.It is not the same panorama for anyone, but this is a way in which we can help some people not have such a bad time ”.