As of March 13, face-mask wearing has been made mandatory to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the Czech Republic.
The majority of the country’s 11 million citizens have been quick to act and a national effort to create masks for everyone began. From homemade studios to fashion designers and students, the community spirit has truly been inspiring.
We spoke with a local seamstress Anna Šebestová, who told us about her unique mask designs and their uses:
“I gave a lot of fabric away to people that were sewing them for themselves,” Anna told us. “I think that people are coming together a little bit more which is quite nice.”
“When people started getting the masks from me I got a few mothers writing to me saying that they can’t put them on the kids – for example this one lady who has a disabled child said that he would only wear my face mask because it’s got animals on it so that really made my day.”
Anna’s face masks an others certainly aren’t boring – they’re both functional and fashionable.
You can check out Anna’s designs at her website: www.annanemone.com. If you’d like to order a mask, or even request a custom one, you can send her a direct message through her Facebook page.
You can also find a map created to connect people sewing masks with those who need them at damerousky.cz.
Vending machines have even up in Prague and Brno to help get face masks on the streets.