Laura S. Howe’s Silver Lake business was no different than any other nonessential business in Los Angeles — it was closed.
That’s when Howe came up with the idea of using the scraps she had saved from all the custom-made dresses over the years at her Matrushka Construction boutique.
The result: masks. And a lot of them.
After displaying the masks on Instagram a few weeks ago, Matrushka sold 700 in the first two days. Since then, the business has now sold more than 8,000.
Choices
Working off-site
Because of the high demand, she has been able to provide jobs for over 10 people, paying them $3 for each mask they make. She provides them with a kit, with the material already pre-cut to form, so each person can make 25 to 75 masks a day.
Delivery
Physical barriers
Howe said she has run out of scraps, so now it’s a combination of buying fabric and receiving donated fabric from a company called Alexander Henry in Burbank.
In addition to selling the masks for $13 apiece, they have donated over 400 masks to various places, including L.A. City park rangers, a clinic in Bell Gardens and a correctional facility.
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