Penn Emblem Partners with PA Groups to Support Local Communities

Penn Emblem Partners with PA Groups to Support Local Communities

In the midst of business closures and re-strategizing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising need for protective masks has given clothing and textile companies a nudge into a lucrative and socially accountable direction: producing masks.

In 2020 Face Masks Became Must-Haves

It became apparent quite quickly that the fashion and textile industry would need to shift gears and provide badly needed aid by starting to create protective masks too. Several brands and designers, like Danielle Baskins, got creative and put their own spin on the new daily apparel must-have.

Burberry made a significant donation to developing Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine, while delivering 100,000 surgical masks to Britain’s NHS workers by tapping its global supply chain. My cousin Jo gave me an African-fabric face mask. with a proper liner, as a late-August birthday present.

The phrase “tapping the global supply chain” translates into “not made in Britain.” America’s healthcare workers network was also besieged in 2020 by supply shortages of face masks, as demand forecasts increased exponentially.

"The surgical mask supply went from being 90% U.S.-made to being 95% foreign-made in literally one year," says Mike Bowen, executive vice president of Prestige Ameritech. And despite the staggering increase in imports, the country was still unable to secure adequate supply from foreign producers.

Masks: From Ancient Symbolism to Lifesaving Protectors

Writing about Burberry making face masks is great. LVMH swung into action and made face masks too, in their own French sample-making and small-runs factory. That good action also warranted a story on AOC.

What about face masks being made in AOC’s own neighborhood? Don’t I have some obligations to American workers in AOC’s birthplace? Especially when the company has a female Owner/President Randi Blumenthal-Joseph and a long history of helping communities?

Penn Emblem thought I would never show up.