267 Zoran Aragovic’s pop art face masks
Date: May 2020Designed by: Zoran Aragovic
Credit: Los Angeles Times
Responding to the criticism levelled at designers for making money with new pandemic fashion accessories, Croatian designer Zoran Aragovic offers this justification in an article in Los Angeles Times: ‘Fashion has upgraded our illness-avoidance skills through the centuries. Hundreds of years ago, small purses known as “plague bags” were worn during the Qin dynasty and filled with herbs to ward off plague-carrying creatures; in Europe they held sweet-smelling sachets thought to keep away miasma, a noxious form of bad air. Today, companies make sun-protective clothing for people with melanoma or camo-printed hats for beekeepers intent on avoiding bee stings. They come in assorted prints and colors, but that doesn’t trivialize their purpose.’
A V&A/RCA HISTORY OF DESIGN MA PROJECT