The self-proclaimed makers of the world’s ‘most dangerous dress shirts’ are actually hoping to keep people safe with its new product.
Fredericton-based Jeff Alpaugh Custom (JAC) has designed a cloth face mask that it says is safe, comfortable, practical and stylish. The company is best known for producing outlandish dress shirts and have been featured on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.
In a news release, the company said founder Jeff Alpaugh hopes the masks will help get some of his team back to work.
“Although stores are allowed to open there will not be demand for JACs signature product, The Dangerous Dress Shirt, until normal socializing is able to take place again,” the release read.
The company launched the mask on Friday, with an email to customers and posts on social media. The goal was to sell 100. As of Monday, 1,500 masks have been ordered. Jeff Alpaugh Custom is donating one mask to front line grocery store workers for every 10 purchased.
Just like Jeff Alpaugh Custom’s dress shirts, the face masks come in a variety of bold patterns including maple leaves, nautical, floral. The four-layer masks are made in accordance with the CDC and NHS recommendations and include a removable filter. The masks feature a wire that conforms to the nose and adjustable straps. They retail for 19.99.
“Jeff originally hesitated to get into the face mask market. He saw most competitors entering the market immediately and he felt like if JAC entered he would be pandemic profiteering and worse, unoriginal,” said the release.
“However, for weeks JACs customers called and asked if they would be making masks and asked if they could be on the list if masks were to be made. Without stores to run Jeff decided to embrace the challenge of designing a superior mask. The differentiator could not be style alone.
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
