Employees wear masks with their names on at a beauty and fashion salon in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Aug. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)
A beauty salon in Syria has been offering tailor-made face masks for people who want to look more stylish and fashionable while wearing a mask.
By Hummam Sheikh Ali
DAMASCUS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some Syrians are turning to tailor-made face masks to add a touch of style and personality to their protective wear.
At a beauty salon in Damascus, Zeina Halal, the manager, came up with the idea at the early stage of the spread of COVID-19 in Syria.
At first, her employees wore regular masks but after thinking it through, Halal started designing masks for her employees with their names and the logo of the salon tailored on them.
"When we opened the center, we were committed to having all staff members wear masks so the idea started here and our visitors loved the idea and started making orders to get fashionable masks," she told Xinhua.
Zeina Halal, the manager of a beauty salon in Damascus, operates on an automated sewing machine to make fashionable masks in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Aug. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)
In her salon, which takes care of the visitors from hair-making, to makeup and fashion designing, Halal works on an automated sewing machine, where she input names or words and choose a pattern or logo to put on the mask.
Halal, a young brunette with dark-brown curly hair and round brown glasses that compliment the color of her hair and the roundness of her friendly face, works on the machine with a smile.
Before starting to make masks, she would help the customers choose the colors of and patterns on the masks.
Halal puts the fabric in the sewing machine and use a touch screen attached to the machine to choose the drawings and input the names or words such as "no kiss" or "keep your distance."
Afterward, she takes the mask to another tailor who cuts the fabric in the right size, whether for male or female and a grown-up or child.
An automated sewing machine draws a butterfly on fabric to make fashionable masks at a beauty and fashion salon in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Aug. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)
She said she is now taking special orders from customers or companies that want to make custom-made mask with company logo to the employees.
"I want to make special masks that stand out, I want people to have their own special masks that are one of a kind," she said.
She said people are demanding the custom-made masks as they can wash them and keep wearing them, unlike the surgical ones that need to be changed frequently.
"There is a good demand for these masks which can be worn on both sides and put logos and words on either side so that people feel they can wear them on any occasion," she said.
A tailor shows the final product of fashionable mask with a butterfly tailored on it at a beauty and fashion salon in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Aug. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)
For Halal, fashion is an important aspect of people's lives because it makes people love the things they wear and use, and the masks are no exception.
"By adding pictures, names, or words and colors to masks, we encourage more people to wear them," she said.
Firas Marwan, a customer, said his 5-year-old son did not like the regular mask so he had to come and make a special order to have a child mask with Spiderman photo on it.
"As masks have become part of our daily life, we need to make sure we are comfortable in them and that our kids love them so as to keep them on, and I think my son will love his new mask," he said. ■
