Students of the renowned BlueCrest School of Fashion Design (https://sfdghana.com), located at Kokomlemle adjacent to the SGSSB bank, have started an entrepreneurial campaign by producing face masks following the worldwide pandemic Covid-19.

The virus is transmitted through close human interaction or contacts. The virus can be found in the small droplets produced during coughing, sneezing or talking by infected persons, thereby spreading the disease further.

Many preventive measures have been mentioned by the World Health Organization on how to minimize the spread of the disease, one of which is the wearing of the face masks. It is for this cause that the students of BlueCrest School of Fashion Design joined other fashion designers and fashion houses in the sewing of face masks in the country.

The prescribed N95 and 3M nose masks are not readily available to the masses in these hard times. This crisis triggered the entrepreneurial skills of the SFD students to start producing face masks for the masses and less privileged in the society.

The knowledge and practical skills acquired by these students in the SFD have been put to good use; hence students designed and produced self - made masks with the recommended non-woven and cotton fabrics at their disposal to help fight and minimize the spread of the virus. The students are producing masks of different styles such as the pleated nose masks, the shaped nose masks, the 3D and the Casero types. 

SFD’s objective is to help students explore their entrepreneurial pursuits by enhancing their innovative skills and to support them acquiring usable skills for the industry after graduation. Thus the initiative taken by the school provided an opportunity to fashion students to explore their creative skills in the designing and production of face masks.

The BlueCrest School of Fashion Design has dedicated its sewing labs for the production of these masks for the less privileged in the society and country at large. The school has since started production with the help of fashion design students who are skilled enough to handle these projects both at home and in the labs of SFD.

So far, the school has been able to produce more than 2,000 face masks and hoping to produce more depending on future situations. SFD hopes to catch up with the high demand for the masks considering the rise in the Covid-19 cases being recorded in the country.

In addition, SFD started a TikTok campaign too that motivates people to produce masks at home using material available at home. SFD faculty members are also releasing videos on YouTube that teach how to make a mask at home.

The author is a Program Chair with BlueCrest School of Fashion and Design