When we first decided to take on this challenge, we both had a lot on our plates. Dahye was the creative director for a firm consulting numerous high end fashion companies. John was an Anesthesiologist who was treating patients with Covid-19 on a recurrent basis. It was painful realizing that so much suffering could have been prevented if more people had been wearing masks.

We wanted to find out why people weren’t wearing masks so we did some research. After analyzing dozens of masks available, we realized that the available masks were uncomfortable and felt suffocating. It was clear that discomfort was one of the reasons why people disliked wearing a mask.

With backgrounds in medicine and fashion, we challenged ourselves to come up with a better mask. A mask that was protective, yet so comfortable that people would forget they were wearing it. And of course, it also had to look good. After 12 iterations, we came up with a mask we both loved. In just 6 days, our mask was fully funded and people started raving about our mask.