Gas masks remind us of wars. Soldiers wear them to prevent themselves from inhaling toxic gas. Its lighter synonym is respiratory mask that we wear only if we are handling or facing something that has heavy fume or dust. In China, this is the latest fashion trend. But no, it has nothing to do with Chinese people suddenly finding beauty in its shape.
Truth lies in practicality and necessity, making the mask an everyday accessory and almost an official symbol of Chinese culture. We ended our industrialization by moving all our factory jobs to China.Economy is booming there. People are slowly climbing up the financial ladder.
The cities that once were home to bicycles now are becoming hoarder of massive number of cars. But showstopper here is coal. China is not only its number one producer, but also its number one user. The massive boom in economy now demands infinite amount of it. With government's effort going in vain, all of those are severely jumbling up the country's air.
It is estimated that 20 percent of the air pollution is caused by the goods being made for United States. The situation is tremendously bad. As a matter of fact, if a foreigner looks at the picture of smokey Chinese roads he will not be able to say if it is the work of fog or pollution.
These days foreigners living in Beijing tend to jokingly call it Greyjing. Pollution related premature death is no more the blue moon. Every year, China is losing more than 300,000 citizens to it. The government of the country has placed censorship over this pollution problem for which non-Chinese are not able to get much news about it. However, things have got out of control. Civilians are angrier, yet there has not been any strong retaliation against the poor air quality. The only protection they have now is the respiratory mask. They are very much into it for which designers see a need to give it a makeover.
November 1st, during China Fashion Week, Masha Ma, one of the renowned designers, unveiled a new reign of high end respiratory face masks embellished with Swarovski crystals to go with her urban-chic collection. This is not her first time though. Last October, she presented her collection with similar stylish masks in Paris.
Interestingly, the air pollution is not a concern just for China. Research reveals that California is also being its victim. It takes just six days for the smog to arrive at Los Angeles. Back to China, this kind of fashion show is not new for the Chinese. Last July, designer Nina Griffee showed off her mask collection at Hong Kong Fashion Week.
The world is getting stranger.
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