The luxury hotel uniform supplier making and donating protective face masks

“My current clients are tying in their masks with their hotel or restaurant colours to avoid the surgical look and make customers feel relaxed, for example Four Seasons is ordering pinstripe masks for its Mayfair reception,” says Lynn.

But during a conversation with her long-standing friend from art school Lyndsay Paterson about the lack of support for the tightly packed refugee camps in Calais during the pandemic, the pair hatched a plan to take Lynn’s newly adapted business and provide support to the communities that need it most. This led to the launch of Free Masketeers on 27 May, a project that takes 20% of the revenue from Lynn’s mask sales, and offcuts from these masks and her uniforms, to produce and donate protective masks to charities across England and Scotland.

Lynn and Lyndsay have already donated more than 10,000 to a host of charities including Help Refugees (supplying refugee camps around the world), The Passage (supplying London’s homeless community), Scran Academy (supplying challenged youths), Erskine Care Home in Glasgow (supplying elderly veterans) and Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home (supplying workers taking care of rescues). Free Masketeers will enable the pair to continue their good work.

“Although a mask doesn’t 100% guarantee you’re not going to catch something, it does encourage social distancing – it says ‘I’m aware [of the virus] and please keep your distance’,” says Lynn.

Lynn is applying the same care and consideration to making these masks that she puts into producing her uniforms, even supplying two sizes to accommodate men with larger faces and/or beards. The offcuts from uniforms and leftover fabric from client-ordered masks (and also from dentists’ scrubs Lynn has been producing since the NHS bought out the UK’s supply) are often brightly coloured, since the typical fabrics are currently in short supply.

The mask design is only part of Lynn’s role in Free Masketeers, alongside managing production and her tailors, while Lyndsay is in charge of liaising with the charities, using knowledge gained from her career as a lawyer and leadership coach working in the public affairs and communications space.

“We [launched Free Masketeers] because it’s nice to give something back and we’re in a position where we can do that. It’s only making a small difference, but if it’s helped just a few people or even saved anyone’s life then that’s amazing,” Lynn says.

She adds: “Until we know what the regulations are for wearing or not wearing masks, or if the virus is going to ease, we’re taking it week by week.”