As the government has made wearing face coverings mandatory on public transport from the 15th June, we decided to interview the tailor behind Savile Row Masks.
Paul Wilkinson tells us about his journey during lockdown and why he has entered the face mask business.
“I was in the same position as most other people, seeing work go from a very steady stream to literally nothing overnight. It was quite early on during lockdown that various countries made wearing face coverings mandatory and there was talk of whether face masks were useful in combatting COVID-19. To me it seemed highly logical that covering your mouth and nose would help stop the spread of COVID-19. It’s great that the government has finally made it mandatory to wear face masks/coverings on public transport, but I’m not sure why this doesn’t cover all indoor settings such as a shops etc. Germany, for example, has made them mandatory for anyone leaving their own home and entering a building and they seem to be leading the way in Europe when combatting the virus. There are such a large number of asymptomatic people that any sort of face covering would help and it’s not about stopping us getting coronavirus, it’s about stopping the spread if we unknowingly have the disease. We have to be responsible to each other.
“The disposable face masks should only be worn once and then thrown away or you could be causing more harm than good for your own health…we have to be responsible to each other”
There was also the other issue that people may start wearing PPE. There are various problems with PPE that I noticed at the outset. Firstly we were being told that we needed to save the PPE for the frontline services and there is also the environmental impact that billions of items of discarded PPE would have. The disposable face masks should only be worn once and then thrown away or you could be causing more harm than good for your own health. The answer was a washable face mask, I’ve got the skills to do this and also why wear boring, uncomfortable face masks. We all like a nice suit, clothes why not have a stylish, comfortable, breathable face mask. Let’s make them high quality that will last rather than something that will fall apart or be uncomfortable.
We’ve come up with various price point options to make the masks accessible to everyone and some great designs with more to come. With everyone getting ready to go back to work and shops opening, many people will still have to catch public transport now is an incredibly dangerous time and if one of my masks helps save a life or help the spread of the virus then I feel like I have done my job’
www.savilerow-masks.com
business@savilerow-masks.com
