Our Story
Lindsay in the pink rose mask @petitcanadien
On March 14th, I received a call that there was a confirmed case of Covid-19 case in my dad’s nursing home in Niagara, Ontario. I was inside a little Italian food boutique in Toronto called Alimentari, stocking up on all my favourite things with the fear that they may close their doors during quarantine. When the call came in my heart sank, and my eyes filled with tears: this was the very thing that I was most afraid of - and it was already here.
I shared the news with a friend over whatsapp and told him I was trying to think of how I could protect my parent, to which he replied: “you don’t - you surrender.” The tears flowed down my cheeks in the little shop and life suddenly felt very differently. While still in its infancy, the stress of the pandemic had already pushed me to an exhausted, helpless state of despair.
What does surrender look like? I asked myself. Glued to the news, tense, upset and feeling powerless - I began to learn about the importance of masks. And then, I messaged Veronique: “Vero, I’m learning about this #masks4all movement and how important it is to stop the spread of the virus,” I told her - sharing video clips and a few mask designs I’d seen overseas. “So, let’s be part of it,” she replied. And like that, our project was given life.
Friends Across 2 Continents
It wasn’t easy for Veronique to have the masks made in Colombia when lock-down had just began. We were limited to two seamstresses and a small supply of fabric that she lovingly persuaded her retired fashion designer parents to allow us to use for our masks. The fabrics had to be transported by courier on motorcycle to and from the seamstresses, but only after Vero was able to escape her duties as a mom with two little girls and ‘sneak’ into her parents’ studio to retrieve the fabrics. “Linds I broke out of lock-down!!” she exclaimed over FaceTime. She held the fabric up to her face to show me how cool they would look. We had surrendered to do all that we could, with all that we had.
Above: Each mask is lovingly sewn by hand. Below: In progress facetimes from Vero’s “lockdown breakout.”
Small run from limited fabrics
The fabrics in this line were collected across the world. Many have unique looks made from select cuts of materials. The patterns are diverse, as are the weights and feels of the cottons, silks and linens. For this reason, we will list as much detail here about the individual masks as we can. Our gift to you are the beautiful creations made in this time.
thank you for caring for Our Elders
be well. be generous.
My dad shown getting ready to head out on a Friday night (pre-pandemic) with two of his friendly support workers who make all the difference in the world to us.
Veronique and I created this line of masks to put beauty in the world and support the #masks4all movement while creating economy for her community in Colombia. But when the masks arrived in Canada, we realized with the strength of the support from my community we could extend proceeds from our profits to gift something to LTC workers, starting with those in Niagara who have exhaustedly worked through this challenging time. Having a parent in a long term care facility has shown me the challenges they face at the best of times, and has taught me the ways that family extends to those caring for my parent and his fellow residents.
Not your typical gift 🎁
We struggled with imposing what kind of gift to give LTC workers, and decided to let them choose for themselves. With 15% of our profits, symptomologie will customize mini self-care kits for support workers, with the goal of supporting them during these challenging times. Stress, immunity, sleep, nervous fatigue - whatever they would like help with I will aim to support through a mini consult and customized kit.