By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com

The XUPERMASK is the next wave of innovative tech that is elevating the healthcare industry in a pandemic era. With the help of costume designer, Jose I. Fernandez, will.i.am and Honeywell have created the XUPERMASK as the future of facemask. The collective is restocking inventory of the wearable tech facemask amid the news of a Delta variant of the COVID virus sweeping through the United States.

Jose I. Fernandez is a futurist garment designer and innovative costume designer creating unimaginable life-size characters for Hollywood films, including Black Panther, Batman, Tron, and classics like Gremlin, with which he got his first start. The Mexican-American artist and designer is one-of-a-kind with his craft and has a vision worth tapping, he’s even designed the next NASA spacesuits. That’s exactly what will.i.am saw in him when they first connected on the XUPERMASK project over a year ago.

Fernandez recalls, “when this pandemic started, we were fortunate to have a few jobs. So, we were working but not full tilt. I’ve known Will [i.am.] for the past - 15 years. He reached out and asked if we were busy. And I said ‘not really.’ Then he just mentioned, ‘I’d love to have a mask.’ I’m like ‘sure, we can work something out.’ So we got together and started talking about it, and it evolved. He had an idea, aesthetically, but it wasn’t fully baked. So I thought I can add to this. “

Fernandez has over 30 years in the filmmaking industry as a costume designer. The Chief Creative Officer of the XUPERMASK is still participating in the film industry, where he has crafted creations from the memories of his cosplay childhood in Los Angeles during the ‘70s.

“Fashion has been in my mind since I was about 10. I realize you can alter clothes and do things with them. I used to do simple things, cut my collars off, add embroidery, put tape and bleach patterns. I was just - kind of - messing with my school clothes at an early age. There was a thing called cosplay. I used to build costumes for myself. That’s my background in fashion, or specialty costume - it was just doing it. I didn’t know what it was. [Cosplay] is a whole world now. The level is coming up immensely. It used to be kind of cheesy,” Fernandez remembers.

The mask includes a silicone face seal constructed with innovative materials. The seal is secured with an elastic strap for comfort and peak performance. The XUPERMASK is easily adjustable for a variety of face shapes and says it can be worn 365 days out of the year - in any location around the globe.

Fernandez wants his creations to be memorable at best. He says, “if you had to wear something, why not wear something cool? That’s where it started. And as we got in deeper, I thought, ‘ wait a minute, this could actually be something bigger.’ So when we added air to it, it just changed everything. That’s the one thing that is uncomfortable about wearing a mask. It’s kind of hot, stifling. When the air came into it, it became more wearable. And now you can filter that air. We added the filtration exhaust, so now it’s clean in, clean out. It started with fashion, then we wanted to make it a bit more comfortable.”

The restock includes two sleek colorways, one in white, gray, and orange, and another in black and orange. The XUPERMASK has two ergonomic sizes that both include a XUPERKIT containing a 3 month supply of HEPA filters, a USB-C charging cable, fabric mask, and multi-size ear tips, and a carrying case.

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