Barcelona start-up produces face masks with printed design of rainbows drawn by children

Barcelona-based start-up MasksForAll came about in March 2020 when Amy Holden, the mother of two young children, realized she couldn't find any decent face masks for them online as she had hoped.

Undeterred, she decided to pull a few strings and reach out to some of her own connections to begin producing eco-friendly masks in a small workshop in Cerdanyola del Vallès, just outside the Catalan capital.

Holden's company has already sold thousands of masks, but one design in particular stands out: a rainbow print design drawn by children during the strict six-week confinement period.

"We wanted to find a way to involve kids, the children were painting these pictures which is a movement that started in Italy," Holden explains.

The project is also closely linked to the community of international parents and children in Barcelona.

"Within some of the networks of mother and children groups we put out a notice saying 'we want to do this and if you've got any of these pictures join in and send them to us'," says Holden.

These drawings were then sent to a designer, who made them into a collage on the fabric used for the masks.

For every three face masks sold online, one is given to local charities such as Càritas or El Casal dels Infants del Raval. So far, some 500 masks have been donated.