A Chinese artist experiments with a shopping bag to create a popular accessory.
Chinese artist and designer Zhijun Wang made a protective face mask by transforming the famous IKEA Frakta shopping bag into a popular accessory. Previously, in partnership with Yutong Duan, the Beijing-based designer became world famous for making various sneaker masks from other fashion products.
Wang had already experimented with making accessories from Frakta in 2017, when a blue shopper bag from Swedish furniture stores unexpectedly became the fashion phenomenon of the year. In May 2020, the designer decided to once again pay attention to the dense fabric with the IKEA logo in light of the current situation around the world. Wang's main idea was the DIY project, teaching everyone how to make a protective mask without leaving home.
For the first time, a Beijing-based artist started making designer masks back in 2013, when smog enveloped the capital of the Celestial Empire amid mass industrialization. Wang's first works were masks made from his own sneakers, so the designer decided to work on creating the necessary accessories in the concept of giving a "second life" to old things.
In the following years, Wang created more than 200 designer protective masks from sneakers, which were won by basketball player James Harden, designers Takashi Murakami and Jeff Staple, performer Liam Payne and other celebrities. Wang also collaborated with Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Puma and other global brands. On his page on the Internet, the designer posted a video with a tutorial on how to make a face mask yourself.