PANAJI: With the State Government making wearing of face masks compulsory in public places, people have started finding innovative ways to make them look creative and fancy so that they find happiness in wearing the masks instead of wearing it as a compulsion.
People, who are into garment business, are finding innovative ways to make the masks look attractive with paintings of trending cartoon characters; some are using baby prints popular among the kids; while some are making masks that could match the outfit one is wearing.
Speaking to GT, Jaylee Katkar, whose family takes bulk orders of home-made face masks, said that the customised masks are getting popular among the youth.
Speaking about how the concept of customised masks with paintings struck her mind, she said, "It was a web series in which a mask had become famous. After the series was over, I casually asked my sister if she could paint one for me as she is an amazing artist and she immediately agreed."
Jaylee said that her sister managed to complete painting on the mask within 30 minutes.
"I was amazed and immediately stitched it and clicked a picture wearing it. And posted it on my whatsapp status," she said.
"My friends too were excited to see it and they asked if we could take similar orders for masks and I said why not," she grinned.
Speaking about the colours used for paintings, she said that acrylic colours are used, which along with the mask, are entirely washable.
"We customise the masks as per the wishes of our customers," she said.
Jaylee said that it takes a minimum of 30 minutes to paint a mask as the character has to be drawn first after which it is painted.
When asked about the demand for such masks, he said, "The demand for customized masks is increasing. People order for things trending on social media and I already have an order for ten masks of a particular design."
While the plain masks are sold at Rs 35 each, customised ones are sold at Rs 150 per mask.