How did the face mask - a symbol of Hong Kong's anti-extradition bill protest - become a fashion accessory?

Sep 6 , 2019

Chinese designer Masha Ma has joined models, musicians and social media influencers in launching versions of the face mask. She embedded her SS15 collection with Swarovski crystals and presented them at Paris Fashion Week.

Now that everyone from designers to social media influencers and musicians are wearing these protective accessories, the surgical mask has become a fashion statement

No one seems to know exactly when the practice of wearing a surgical mask onto a crammed rush-hour train happened, but just look at any major East Asian city and you’ll spot several commuters sporting them.

From Tokyo to Seoul and Singapore to Hong Kong, these masks are as ubiquitous on people’s faces as chopsticks are on dinner tables. But when journalist Jeff Yang started noticing them 15 years ago among the Asian population in New York City, and then went looking for its origins in what became an instantly viral article in Quartz, face masks quickly became a global talking point.

Cut to 2019: cities around the world have begun to see a spike in air pollution, and as a result, face masks have increasingly become a necessity when stepping outside. At the same time, they have also become a symbol of resilience in political movements, such as in the case of the pro-democracy street activists in Hong Kong who use them to hide their faces from the CCTV cameras that monitor them like hawks from overhead poles.

Anti-extradition bill protesters march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay towards Central after they attended a rally against police brutality at the Victoria Park. Protesters often wear face masks to hide their identities from CCTV cameras.

The masks could be used to somewhat survive the effects of inhaling diesel-laden, foul air, or to prevent the spread of common airborne illnesses. If either is not a pressing concern, of course, one could simply use them as a fashion accessory.

In July of this year, supermodel Naomi Campbell posted her preflight routine on her delightful YouTube channel, confessing her deeply entrenched fear of people coughing and sneezing on aeroplanes. Lo and behold, a black face mask made an appearance.

Even if Campbell didn’t wear it on a runway, face masks have been headlining for a few years now. When the QIAODAN Yin Peng Sports Wear Collection debuted its respiratory masks at China Fashion Week in 2014, it made global news.