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From dressing pop stars to protecting the masses. Designer Michael Ngo, famous for creating eye-catching performance looks for Ariana Grande, Maren Morris, Jennifer Lopez and many more, has launched a collection of chic and charitable face masks. The accessories are available on his website at prices ranging from $45 to $500, with 100% of net …
From dressing pop stars to protecting the masses.
Designer Michael Ngo, famous for creating eye-catching performance looks for Ariana Grande, Maren Morris, Jennifer Lopez and many more, has launched a collection of chic and charitable face masks.
The accessories are available on his website at prices ranging from $45 to $500, with 100% of net proceeds benefiting the Los Angeles Food Bank, which provides meals to lower-income communities.
Ngo decided to design the masks, which are decorated with everything from sparkling crystals to punk-inspired zippers and chains, after organizing his fabric collection and realizing he had the necessary tools.
“I’ve just gathered all these fabrics just in case I needed to make a duplicate or something like that, so I had a whole stockpile of fabric,” he explained to Page Six Style on Friday.
“And then when the lockdown happened I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I can’t believe this. What can I do?’ I want to make masks and donate to hospitals and organizations near me.”
While designing, Ngo drew inspiration from his past celebrity hits. “Some of them are very reminiscent of the Ariana Grande tour looks I did,” he said. “Some were inspired by J.Lo. Some were inspired by the Nicki [Minaj] looks I’ve done in the past.”
Ngo has been making the masks with the help of his two assistants, all three of them working from home. The team began by donating the face coverings to local health facilities, but was soon swamped with requests from fans eager to buy them for themselves.
“In two weeks we raised $12,500, providing 50,000 meals for the LA Food Bank,” he told us. “The results inspired me to continue with the project, which was originally planned as a two-week fundraiser.”
Ngo’s third collection of masks will drop on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, but he is unsure how many more he will be able to make as resources become scarce.
“It’s just really hard to get anything — like all these designers are making masks right now, and elastic and fabric are like the hand sanitizer of the fashion world,” he laughed. “It’s kind of crazy, to be honest. Like if you talk to any designer and you say ‘elastic,’ it has the same reaction as ‘hand sanitizer’ or ‘mask’ or ‘gloves.’”
“I definitely do want to continue selling,” he added. “I really hope we can keep the momentum going.”
