Breathe Easy Sports Mask
Design by an athlete for athletes
Situation
Before the pandemic, NYC fashion designer Kim Foley was focused on building a reputation as a creator of exclusive handmade clothing and accessories, working from her studio based in Long Island City.
An avid marathon and ultra-marathon runner, her daily routine included a 10-mile run to and from work across Central Park and the Queensboro Bridge. When the city mandated face masks to slow the virus’ spread, Kim complied without question. But she simply could not breathe in any mask she tried. She quickly realized how essential it was to have a comfortable, lightweight, truly breathable sports mask. As an athlete herself, she knew she could design the perfect mask tailored to the needs of the athlete.
For the next month, Kim sourced materials and made countless prototypes—even running 21 miles in a single day through Brooklyn to fit them on friends to determine the perfect sizing.
The challenge was to pivot from high fashion design to high-performance gear without confusing the brand she had already built, creating a sense of continuity between the two based on her keen artistic sense and modern, edgy style.
Solution
Since we had designed the original Kim Foley brand, we were already familiar with the aesthetics intrinsic in her products: boldly geometric, unique, and perfect in every detail.
We began with a product name that was elegantly simple and required no explanation: the Breathe Easy Sports Mask. Like the Kim Foley logotype we had already created, the typography is bold, clean, and modern. Spaces within each E evoke a sense of airflow, creating “breathing room” within the letterform itself. The visual repetition of the E’s design also unifies the name into a single cohesive unit, and helps to emphasize the correct pronunciation of “breathe” not “breath.”
All the marketing materials—website imagery, social media presence, packaging—echo the same geometric abstract forms and bold black-and-white palette found throughout the Kim Foley brand. That core palette provides a dramatic background to display the custom colors offered in the mask line, enabling clients to evoke a personal style, promote a business, or support a sports team. The result is a brand image that works seamlessly with the Kim Foley brand.
Photography Stephane Verzi
Models Kim Foley & Sam Ayling
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