Fashion lovers are coming up with innovative ways to stay fashionable
despite the coronavirus pandemic and one of such ways is through face
mask.
Recently, bra-cup face mask memes surfaced online and went
viral but a Japanese company decided to make them a reality and they
sold out almost instantly.
Atsumi Fashion, an apparel
manufacturer in the city of Himi, Toyama Prefecture that specialises in
women’s underwear garments decided that applying the same design to face
masks wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
According to SoraNews24,
though the lace bra face mask started out as a joke the company
underestimated Japanese consumers appetite for ingenuity and sexy
underwear. The prototype Atsumi Fashion originally showcased got a lot
of attention online.
The company promoted the face masks by
sharing a photo of model and TV personality Aya Kondo wearing a lace bra
face mask. The former “Terrace House” cast member came by to visit the
store, and wore the lace bra mask.
Soon after, a whole collection of bra face masks was announced.
The lace bra face masks went on sale last Saturday at 1,490 yen (US$14) and sold out minutes after it became available.
The
company underestimated demand, offering only 50 units for each color
available (white, pink, lime, aqua blue, black), but a new batch of lace
bra masks is already in the works.
Shoppers flocked both Atsumi Fashion’s online shop, Lingerie Lab and its storefront on online marketplace Rakuten.
They also have simpler designs available, if lace isn’t your style.
Atsumi
Fashion added a disclaimer on its Rakuten storefront that the product
was not meant to be a replacement for surgical masks, but can be thought
of as an equivalent for cloth masks.
Getting your hands on a
proper medicinal face mask in Japan is pretty hard these days, but
clothing companies around the country are trying to alleviate the
shortage by producing reusable cloth masks.
It waits to be seen if the western world will replicate this marketing success from Asia.