A16 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, JULY 28 , 2020
BY CHICO HARLAN
AND STEFANO PITRELLIrome — H is business depends on
selling Italian products — wine,
limoncello, truffle oil — to tourists.
But the visitors are suddenly gone,
and as Italy reemerged from lock-
down, Marco Guerrini was closing
one store after the next. He feared
his life’s work was crumbling
around him. Many nights, he
couldn’t sleep. His three teenage
children sensed his anxiety.
Then they went to him with an
idea.
Why not reimagine some of the
stores? Why not start selling the
one thing everybody seemed to
need?
They suggested starting a com-
pany that sold nothing but masks.
“I realized the necessity for
masks will be with us for a long
time,” said Luca Guerrini, 17. He
had imagined going back to high
school in the fall with a surgical
mask and thought he — and others
— might prefer something stylish
and personalized.
Marco agreed to give them a
chance. He handed over two shut-
tered stores on which he was still
paying rent. The signs that read
“Enoteca Guerrini” disappeared;
the new ones say “Lamaska.”
For Guerrini’s children — Marti-
na, 16, Luca, 17, and Matteo, 19 —
the new venture is an attempt to
offset some of the family’s econom-
ic distress. But their effort to turn a
protective device into a business
opportunity also points to a broad-
er attitude in the country, where
masks are widely used, no more
controversial than cellphone cases
— and entrepreneurs are working
to meet rising demand.
Lamaska, the first masks-only
store in Rome, is opening at a time
when much of the city shows signs
of deep pain. Many businesses
tried to reopen after the lockdown.
But in the center, which is depen-
dent on tourism, more and more
shops — from luxury brands on
down — are giving up, their once-
glistening windows now display-
ing “for rent” signs.
Marco Guerrini has continued
to operate four of his 20 wine
stores and hopes to reopen others
if the economy improves.
Still, even in that environment,
remaining companies, and Ital-
ians, are embracing the mask.
Some boutiques keep a few near
the display window. At Yamamay,
a major swimwear and underwear
chain, the mannequins are wear-
ing masks with matching bikinis.
Men’s shirt stores make masks
from their fabrics; an upscale de-
signer, Laura Biagiotti, is offering
luxury models for $40.
Next to one of the two Lamaska
locations, a tailor who has been in
business for 20 years says she’s
been designing masks for clients
to match their suits — a “chance to
lighten this nightmare we’ve all
been living with,” she said.
“If you can make the mask look
good, it’s way better,” said Feri
Mastoureh, who said she’s strug-
gling to keep her own business
afloat.
Italy has one of the highest rates
of mask acceptance in the West,
surveys show, and mask use in
indoor public spaces is mandatory.
The country was an early epicenter
of the coronavirus pandemic, but a
strict lockdown sent the virus into
retreat, allowing Italy to begin re-opening nearly three months ago.
Virologists say mask-wearing has
contributed to the success in Italy
and other countries.
In part because the virus ar-
rived here with such a horrific
explosion, there has been virtually
no political pushback against the
masks. It’s hard to find a confron-
tation of the kind common in the
United States between those
charged with enforcing mask
rules and those who refuse to wear
face coverings.
“In some countries, it has ac-
quired a symbolic and political
meaning, but that was never the
case here, and it never will be,”
said Pierfranco Malizia, a cultural
sociologist. Still, Malizia said, he
thinks Italians view masks as a
painful reminder of the pandemic
and “can’t wait” to get rid of them.
The Guerrini siblings and fel-
low Lamaska co-founder Federico
Alessi, 19, note that Italians seem
to have dropped their guard aboutwearing masks outdoors. They see
parties packed with young people,
social distancing ignored.
“The average age of the infected
person in Italy has gone down,”
Luca said. “It’s something of a
youthful thing, to act less respon-
sible.”
Their hope has been to try to
make masks more palatable for
the long term. Their stores sell
masks patterned after national
flags and soccer team colors, in
leather and sweat-wicking materi-
al, in showy patterns and busi-
ness-casual solids. Most sell for $
to $10. Some are as expensive as
$50. They’ve built their stock from
suppliers including leather pro-
ducers and children’s clothing
manufacturers that have started
producing masks in recent
months in their own attempts to
adjust to the new economy.
The teenagers say they have
long been interested in business —
the oldest, Matteo, studies mar-
keting and management in college
— but they were nervous on open-
ing day for their first store this
month.
The shop was steps away from
Campo de’ Fiori, a piazza with an
open-air market that, most sum-
mers, is packed with tourists.
The partners were all inside the
store, waiting, as was their dad.
The doors opened. Customers
started entering.
The city wasn’t busy, but Lam-
aska was. They sold 150 masks the
first day.
“It was the first time I’d seen my
dad smile in months,” Matteo said.
“My heart was smiling,” agreed
Marco, the father.
Neither Marco nor his children
know whether the business model
will work, he said. But for now,
they’ve made enough money to
pay the rent at the two locations —
8,000 and 9,000 euros per month
— and the teenagers plan to use
proceeds to open a third store.
Luca was walking last week
down Via Del Corso, one of Rome’s
most famed shopping boulevards.
He passed an emptied storefront
and saw a new sign pasted out
front that made him freeze.
He took a picture and sent it to
his siblings.
It was an advertisement for a
soon-to-come store — a competi-
tor. Just a few blocks away from
Lamaska, there’d be a new place to
buy masks.
[email protected]Italian businesses switch gears and go after mask market, however fleeting
PHOTOS BY CHICO HARLAN/THE WASHINGTON POSTTOP: Shoppers check out Lamaska, the brainchild of Federico
Alessi, 19, and Guerrini siblings Martina, 16; Luca, 17; and Matteo,- Lamaska, the first masks-only store in Rome, is opening at a
time when much of the city shows signs of deep pain after
coronavirus-related shutdowns. In the city center, which is
dependent on tourism, more and more shops are giving up.
ABOVE: Luca Guerrini sorts through the collection at Lamaska.
CORONAVIRUSCritical ChoicesConversations with David J. Skorton, MD and Leana S. Wen, MDHosted by The Post’s Frances Stead Sellers on Wed. July 29 at 12:00 p.m. ETTo receive a live stream reminder for this event, visit: washingtonpostlive.comDavid J. Skorton, MDPresident & CEOAssociation of AmericanMedical CollegesLeana S. Wen, MDEmergency Physician