Fashion, Style & Popular Culture - 1-2: Dressing through Pandemics, Mar 2026

During the 2020 pandemic lockdown, three curators at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) began documenting and collecting non-medical face masks from around the world. Working virtually from their homes in Toronto, Canada, they assembled over 300 masks from across 23 countries, recording stories of making, makers and cultural meaning. Their rapid response collection culminated in a year-long free exhibition, Unmasking the Pandemic: From Personal Protection to Personal Expression (September 2021–September 2022), which presented over one hundred original masks, many handmade, grouped under four themes: ‘Poetry and Protest’; ‘Heroes and Warriors’; ‘Survival and Strength’ and ‘Artistry and Innovation’. This article presents highlights of the exhibition, drawing attention to the exquisite artistry, innovative designs and powerful messaging behind the masks which reflected their makers’ stories of resilience, cultural identity and collective humanity in the face of a global crisis.

This article examines the transformation of face coverings from essential personal protective equipment (PPE) to luxury fashion accessories during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on menswear. The research centres on the Westminster Menswear Archive’s (WMA) exhibition, Undercover – From Necessity to Luxury: The Evolution of Face Coverings during COVID-19, which documents over 100 face coverings collected between March 2020 and March 2021. This study highlights the rapid adaptation of fashion brands in response to the pandemic and their efforts to reposition face masks as desirable fashion items. The exhibition, which launched on 11 May 2021, showcased face coverings from prominent brands such as Burberry, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton, illustrating their shift from functional PPE to high-status accessories. Additionally, it featured 365 images of discarded masks, minted as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to challenge traditional conventional notions of value and authenticity in fashion archives. The article details the curatorial process involved in developing the exhibition, including the challenges of rapid response collecting and the influence of digital contexts on exhibition design. It discusses how the exhibition’s thematic sections – Before COVID-19, Undercover, Protection, Digital, Charity and Discarded – addressed various aspects of face coverings’ evolution, from pre-pandemic fashion trends to their role in digital and charitable contexts. The study also critiques how the pandemic has reinforced traditional fashion hierarchies of gender and exclusivity. By capturing the rapid evolution of face coverings and their presentation in digital spaces, the exhibition critically engages with themes of value, memory and digital archiving. This innovative approach not only preserves a significant moment in fashion history but also contributes to the broader understanding of how crises influence fashion practices and archival methodologies.

Consumer behaviour is known to change during trying times as consumption has implications for the self. In fact, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in self-gifting. Adopting a psychological lens, this novel study explored females’ experiences of self-gifting luxury fashion during the pandemic. Given the under-researched area, an exploratory qualitative approach was adopted and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to understand participants’ experiences. A homogenous sample of four females were interviewed using semi-structured interviews to elicit rich data. Findings demonstrated that self-gifting of luxury fashion during the pandemic was a complex phenomenon that seemed to contribute to participants’ psychological well-being. The discussion links and extends the literature on self-gifting, luxury consumer behaviour and consumption during trying times. It highlights implications for academic research, individuals, brands and retailers.

This study is the first of two parts, investigating relationships with clothing during the COVID-19 pandemic by surveying 576 emerging adults in Canada. Clothing engagement, fashion involvement and the use of clothing for mood enhancement are examined in Part I. The pandemic led to increased or decreased clothing engagement, with main themes of reduced appearance management, exploration of fashion and style and new practices adopted for the COVID-19 lockdowns. Fear of COVID-19 was positively related to fashion involvement and mood enhancement practices. Emerging adults coped and improved mood through clothing by enhancing comfort, affect, body image, self-concept, self-esteem, self-expression, connection and motivation. The findings demonstrate that clothing was used to meet emotional and psychological needs of the wearer and cope with stressors during the pandemic. Clothing is proposed to be a significant tool in bolstering mental health. Part II of the study relays more findings centred on the effects of clothing on emerging adults’ mental health.

Understanding clothing’s role in coping and managing daily needs and stressors is critical in understanding its therapeutic possibilities and effects on mental health. Part II of the study involved 576 Canadian emerging adults, exploring their motivations behind clothing engagement whilst navigating the peaks of the pandemic, and how clothing affected their mental health. Individuals reported multiple motivations in their use of clothing, including comfort, self-assurance, individuality, fashion, camouflage, motivation and normalcy. The quantitative analysis found no relationship between the practice of enhancing mood through clothing and mental health. The qualitative analysis revealed several positive and negative effects clothing had on mental health through self-esteem, mood, self-efficacy, distraction, self-congruency and self-empowerment. Findings provide partial evidence that clothing practices and COVID-19’s disruptions to clothing engagement effected perceived mental health. Future research is encouraged to further explore the relationship between clothing and mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic, officially declared by the WHO in March 2020, significantly impacted daily life, including fashion practices and personal styling. With lockdowns and social distancing disrupting traditional fashion cycles, individuals adapted their engagement with clothing in new ways. This article examines three major shifts that emerged during the pandemic: domestic crafting, DIY fashion and the use of styling as a coping mechanism for mental well-being. Firstly, domestic crafting saw a resurgence, as people, with more time at home, turned to sewing and creating clothing. Beyond meeting practical needs, these activities provided a sense of control and emotional relief during a period of widespread uncertainty. Secondly, the DIY fashion movement gained traction, with individuals repurposing and customizing their wardrobes to reflect their evolving lifestyles while expressing creativity. Lastly, styling and dressing up became a psychological tool, helping individuals maintain routine, boost self-esteem and create a sense of normalcy despite restrictions on social interaction. These trends underscore the adaptability and resilience of individuals in times of crisis, demonstrating how fashion serves not only a functional purpose but also a vital role in emotional and psychological well-being. By exploring the intersections of fashion, creativity and mental health, this study provides insight into how personal style evolved as a form of self-expression and coping during a time of global disruption.

This article evaluates the important role that fashionability played during the COVID-19 pandemic in incentivizing the public to wear face coverings when mandated to do so. The digital screen is used as a framing device to examine what was communicated to fashion consumers and how this communication occurred during lockdown. Lockdowns accelerated the primacy of screens in fashion communication. While fashion communication encompasses a variety of practices, this article focuses on the marketing and online advertising approaches used by fashion brands to position face coverings as desirable accessories during the pandemic. Screens did not merely provide representations of face coverings, but through imagery, descriptions and links, they served as conduits to imagine the ways in which wearers might experience and style this new accessory. Fashion brands further emphasized how mask production or consumption contributed to responsible (corporate) citizenship and charitable initiatives, or related to sustainability. During the pandemic, these strategies responded to the criticism that the fashion industry was taking advantage of the demand for this new accessory for profit. However, in considering the mask’s materialization from screen to embodied experience, I also apply the other use definition of screen: to obscure or hide. This article argues that the emphasis of certain sustainable features of cloth masks drew attention away from the many other ways in which masks did not conform to circular design and that local and corporate initiatives obscured rather than addressed the worsened plight of garment workers. The ease with which digital fashion communication can be updated allowed fashion brands to remove references to initiatives once wearing masks became normalized and the market was saturated. I argue that the evidence reveals an industry practising business as usual, positioning itself in the best possible light through digital communication and marketing, rather than affecting systematic change: a lost opportunity for all.

Dress is an essential element of social identity and has been used in achieving social cohesion and belonging in societies. In Nigeria, dress is a key aspect of cultural heritage and practices. One of such practices is the Aso Ebi culture which involves groups of people adopting a unique dress code, mostly cultural dress, to social events. The Aso Ebi clothing culture is prevalent amongst Nigerians but has spread to other parts of Africa and has also been adopted by Africans in the diaspora. The tradition has continued to evolve in the digital age, becoming a significant part of a visual culture on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Several Instagram accounts are dedicated to the documentation of the Aso Ebi culture, which has since become a niche market in the Nigerian fashion industry for various stakeholders including make-up artists and photographers. Clothing cultures such as the Aso Ebi phenomenon in Nigeria were impacted during the global COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in lockdowns and measures that prevented mass gatherings, hence social events came to a halt or were conducted virtually. This article explores the visual memories of cultural dress in an era where group and mass gatherings were at the barest minimum and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustenance of this cultural dress code within that period. The content analysis method was adopted for this study in the examination of Nigerian-based Instagram account, AsoEbiBella, during the lockdown period in Nigeria. Findings show that social media platforms employed nostalgia and hope in crafting an idealized vision of social gatherings and social dress codes in a period of social distancing.

The COVID-19 impact on the global economy, governance, livelihood and healthcare cannot be overemphasized. The sudden and rapid spread of the virus was exposed because of the world’s vulnerable and fragile nature. The death toll and the incessant cases of reported virus attacks explain this. The health sector’s recommended protective gear to citizens globally became necessary and in high demand, forcing Nigerian fashion designers to creatively transform ordinary face masks for consumers to vibrant expressions of cultural identity and personal style. The pandemic helped to re-emphasize and re-imagine fashion. The study examines the evolution of face masks as fashion items in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research examines how the Nigerian designer incorporates traditional textile patterns, symbols, colours and designs to build the face mask while providing the aesthetics and functionality of the fashion trend. This work probes the high demand rate and why Nigerians desired to maintain their cultural mien even at this time of global crisis. Using methods of interviews and digital ethnography, this study exposes how the pandemic catalysed a unique fusion of health consciousness and fashion innovation. This work argues that the COVID-19 pandemic greatly contributed to and made bold fashion statements, in the Nigerian industry, opening up avenues of creativity with the practical necessity that represents a unique cultural essence. This situates the research as an important contribution towards understanding the intersection of public health strategies, sociocultural adaptation and economic resilience within Nigeria.

This article discusses how consumers’ shopping habits have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how these changes have affected the United Kingdom’s local commercial centres. The focus of the article is on the shifts in commercial consumption during the pandemic and the resultant rise in importance of the charity shop. The application of experiential marketing by the charity sector via their retail sites is examined to understand their elevation of importance during the pandemic. Research undertaken evidences that these shops provided needed experiences for their customers during a public health crisis, and this article fills a significant gap in scholarship conducted exploring the use of experiential marketing within the charity sector. Primary research was gathered through online and in-person surveys and analysed using thematic analysis to understand underlying opinions about charity shops and their place on the Withington high street, an urban residential community in the city of Manchester in the northwest of England. The results of this study indicate that the ways in which charity shops use experiential marketing could be extended to the larger retail environment as a method to gain higher footfall within local commercial retail areas which benefits greater engagement with the public areas within communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives, including our perception of fashion and dressing styles. This study aims to analyse the long-term impacts of the pandemic on Italian consumers’ fashion preferences, attitudes and behaviours as perceived by industry professionals. Using a qualitative methodology, the author conducted fifteen in-depth interviews with professionals from diverse fields (manufacturing, retail, marketing, communication, styling, design, etc.). Data was analysed through thematic analysis to identify recurring themes and insights, with additional secondary data from recent reports on Italian consumption. This article contributes to the current literature in two main areas. Firstly, the interviews with fashion professionals show how COVID-19 led Italian consumers to prioritize comfort and practicality in their clothing choices – an approach adopted during the pandemic but sustained afterwards. This shift is notable for Italians, who traditionally favour elegance or at least formality in daily attire. Importantly, this shift does not indicate a loss of enjoyment in dressing well; rather, consumers are now balancing this pleasure with the comfort of more relaxed styles. Secondly, the article highlights how COVID-19 raised awareness about sustainability, with Italians primarily focusing on environmental sustainability. This awareness is evident in behaviours like a preference for long-lasting, timeless garments and the rise of second-hand fashion, especially among Generation Z (Gen Z). However, this consumer remains a key demographic for ultra-low-price retailers, presenting a contradiction that may lessen over time. This study hypothesizes that young consumers, now entering the workforce, currently lack the purchasing power to afford fully sustainable wardrobes.