Amy and Marianne Buckley are more than mother and daughter - they’re a manufacturing team.
The pair run a children’s clothing business from a workshop in the garden of their home in the Melbourne suburb of Preston. During stage four lockdown, they’ve also been burning the midnight oil to make face masks.
“It's been wild. It does feel a little bit like a wartime effort,” Amy, 37, told SBS News.
“Mum’s been sewing well into the night and our husbands have been busy pressing and snipping, as we have.”
Marianne Buckley makes masks at home in Melbourne. Source: SBS
Amy, a mother of three young children, started clothing label Little Dreamer in 2014 with her mother, who does most of the sewing.
With street markets closed, they sell mainly online, and last month they pivoted to making face masks. It’s the first time either of them has produced personal protection equipment.
“Masks are very time consuming and I don't think we really knew what we were getting ourselves into,” Marianne said. “But it also feels like we are giving back at the moment.”
Their washable, pleated cotton masks have a nose wire for an adjustable fit and a filter pocket for an N95 filter, recommended to protect against airborne particles and liquid contaminating the face.
The Little Dreamer masks come in a range of styles and sizes. Source: SBS
The Buckleys are rushing to supply thousands of orders, although they say it’s becoming harder to source supplies including elastic for their vibrant range.
“We tried to make our masks very colourful on purpose because so many people are getting around in black masks, and it was quite intimidating for our children,” Amy said.
Wearing face masks in public is compulsory in Melbourne and people in Sydney are also being urged to cover up.
Source: Instagram/littledreamer_au
Australian singer Claire Lyon last month launched a mask business called The Masque Co.
The 33-year-old has spent most of 2020 in South Korea performing in The Phantom of the Opera, one of the few live theatre productions still running during the pandemic.
Australian soprano Claire Lyon has started a range of masks. Source: Supplied
The world tour currently in South Korea plays eight shows a week to packed houses in a 1,600-seat theatre in Seoul, under strict controls.
“I’ve personally been wearing masks since January, so I tried a lot of masks over recent months and I wanted to normalise a mask not only for myself but for people [in Australia] - especially when I saw the numbers [of COVID-19 cases] really ramping up," Ms Lyon said.
“So I thought: ‘how can I make a difference and encourage people to wear masks?’"
Soprano Claire Lyon in one of her masks. Source: Supplied
Her reusable polyester and spandex masks were designed in Melbourne by Jason Mitsios and went on sale at the end of July, produced by a factory in Seoul.
“It’s a small company and the owners are very much across every stage of the manufacturing process, and they have done their due diligence testing,” she said.
“We’ve had thousands of orders from Victoria and NSW, as well as South Africa, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the USA and UK."
One dollar from every sale of the $20 masks is also donated to support performing arts workers struggling with mental health.
“Many people in the performing arts have been badly affected by COVID-19 and the theatre industry is just being decimated,” Ms Lyon said.
“I just wanted to do as much as I possibly could.”
As mask sales surge, Australia’s national science agency the CSIRO this week launched the first accredited surgical face mask testing facility in Melbourne. It will enable local manufacturers of surgical face masks to fast-track the supply for frontline health workers.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has seen many Australian businesses shift quickly to meet unprecedented demands for personal protective equipment,” said Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews.
Australian companies will no longer need to send masks and materials overseas for testing, saving time and money, she said.
At the helm of a new globally focussed mask business is ambitious 28-year-old, Isaac Honor.
His Sydney based venture AusAir was set up with brother Elias and long-time friend Jack Graham well before COVID-19 hit.
Isaac Honor, 28 (left) with brother Elias, 26 (centre) and friend Jack Graham, 28 from AusAir. Source: SBS
Raised in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, the trio came up with the idea of making face masks to filter air pollution during a trip to China in 2017.
After three years of testing and refining their prototype, their masks are finally ready to be exported globally from a factory in southern China.
“We have $4 million worth of pre-sales, and we're actually sending out our first shipments next week,” Mr Honor said.
They have signed contracts with top global retailers including Selfridges department stores in the UK.
“We are struggling to keep up with the demand as it grows. For a start-up, we are scaling very, very quickly.”
AusAir masks have an average filtration efficiency of 99.50 per cent, according to the company website. The reusable masks also have a washable skin and offer a unique selling point.
“Our filters are infused with Australian botanicals, like tea tree oil or lavender, sourced from Australian farms,” Mr Honor said.
Maria Rumyantseva.is a lecturer at Sydney University's business school. Source: SBS
The founders learned how to run a business from scratch by enrolling in various incubator programs, winning Sydney University’s flagship Genesis startup program’s ‘Most Scalable Business in South East Asia’ award in 2018.
“The feature of this startup is that the founders are so focussed on their ideas, and they put everything behind it,” said the university’s lecturer in strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship, Maria Rumyantseva.
AusAir has so far avoided selling in mainland China, where single-use masks are widely used, but sales of their ‘premium masks’ are expected to take off there eventually.
“This mask will be very appealing to Chinese consumers because of intrinsic trust Chinese have for Australian branded products,” said Sydney University student Calvin Yang, who has helped AusAir with offshore marketing.
Metropolitan Melbourne residents are subject to Stage 4 restrictions and must comply with a curfew between the hours of 8pm and 5am. During the curfew, people in Melbourne can only leave their house for work, and essential health, care or safety reasons.
Between 5am and 8pm, people in Melbourne can leave the home for exercise, to shop for necessary goods and services, for work, for health care, or to care for a sick or elderly relative. The full list of restrictions .
All Victorians must wear a face covering when they leave home, no matter where they live.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
