The City of Tampa may not have made wearing a face mask mandatory, but one local designer wants you to make it fashion.
“I have officially halted my entire production of anything else but fashionable masks,” Kyle Kilgore told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. His Ybor City-based studio specializes in custom fashion garments (think prom, drag shows), but he’s fulfilling a different need these days.
“It also keeps my business afloat: A double protector, if you will,” Kilgore said, adding that his studio line is open for customization options and additional photos of the masks, which are machine washable and reusable.
"These masks now are made completely of fabric that I have upcycled from my studio, which reduces my waste as well,” Kilgore said. “While these are not N95 medical-grade masks, they are as close as a hand made mask can get.”
Kilgore is also donating one mask to a medical first responder every time someone orders a mask from his studio.
And it looks like there’s no limit to what Kilgore can do. Just look at that sexy ass, fringed-out mask that came out of the studio recently.
“A stylist in Miami placed an order and told me he wanted something ‘fun.’ He gave me total creative freedom other than that, so I had fun. I’ve been really into Orville Peck—a country music artist who always wears fringe masks, he’s BFFs with diplo)—lately and I know the stylist likes sparkle, so I merged the two concepts,” Kilgore said.
And don’t think that you can’t use the mask once the coronavirus finally passes and we can start hanging out with each other again.
“I’m supposed to be making a mirrored blazer for him to wear with the mask once this mess is all over,” Kilgore added. “We can practice extra safety measures and still look cute. A global pandemic is not a good reason to give up on your aesthetic.”
Visit kilgoreofficial.com or contact the Kilgore studio directly (813-842-7575) for customization options and additional photos
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This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2020.