karleo has partnered with mumbais civic body bmc to supply masks free of charge under its project masks for humanity since march 28 the brand has been producing 1000 masks every two days which it supplies to bmc we have a model that involves very few people going out and minimum physical contact explains cofounder leon vaz so scraps of cloth from karleos wedding outfits are dropped off outside the homes of women who then fashion them into masks and leave them outside for pickup these are then sanitised and ironed before delivery vaz adds that this also provides a livelihood to karigars who are now out of work lots of people are coming forward with donations of food and money but few for masks as designers we already make accessories so this was the best way to contribute says vaz the idea is also to encourage other designers to be a part of this and get fabric donationsin kolkata designer abhishek dutta has manufactured over 5000 masks since march 20 which have been distributed to ngos in the city for free and is working on another 5000 it is the need of the moment and my social responsbility as a designer says dutta his colourful masks are made with waste cloth with nonwoven fabrics being used for filtration and cotton ribs being used as bands instead of elastic for comfort and durabilitythe fashion design council of india has also sought permission from the state governments of delhi haryana and uttar pradesh to produce masks with designers such as samat chauhan rajesh pratap singh and pawan sachdeva volunteering use of their factories for thisthe masks produced by the designers will be protective masks which will provide an extra layer of security and for many at least one layer of security says sunil sethi chairman fdci they will be distributing these masks free of cost some see a business opportunity given the lack of availability of masks delhibased anab naiyar who runs a handmade product brand on etsy called oony by anab started making her own masks in early march it became so difficult to buy one that i used an n95 mask at home as a template to make one and also embroidered it she says after posting a picture online people reached out to her to buy them i used scrap cotton and linen to make these masks she sold 3035 pieces for rs 700 a pop but hasnt been able to do so since she cant currently ship them with inputs from ketaki desai and shobita dhar