As our medical workers painstakingly fight the COVID-19 crisis on the frontlines, other fields have also taken steps to try and help our countrymen survive as well as to boost morale amidst the pandemic. The fashion industry, for example, has been able to provide healthcare workers with badly needed equipment that's essential for their protection. Iloilo-based designers in particular have gone viral on social media for keeping medical frontliners' spirits up by sewing colorful hazmats and creatively themed personal protective equipment—they've made suits inspired by pop culture faves like Money Heist, Power Rangers, Star Wars, and more!
Check out these Iloilo-based designers' creative takes on personal protective equipment (PPE):
Money Heist
Iloilo-based designer Ram Silva crafted scarlet red PPE suits reminiscent of the hit Netflix series Money Heist for the Internal Medicine Department of Western Visayas Medical Center. And the suits came just in time for the release of the shows fourth season on the streaming site, too. Don't worry, the masks were only used as props!
Teletubbies
Meanwhile, designer and registered cardiovascular operating room nurse Adrian Pe worked together with his fellow nurses in The Medical City Iloilo to make improvised hazmats in varying vibrant shades modeled after the hit '90s children's show Teletubbies. Peep the rainbow-hued suits—can you name each character based on their corresponding color?
Star Wars
Knowing all too well the struggles of being a medical worker, especially in these trying times, Pe attempts to try to make his coworkers' daily hardships a little more fun with his creative suits. "I work a lot in the hospital and the work there is exhausting. And I have always taught myself to look for the beauty in it," he writes on an Instagram post. That being said, check out his Star Wars-themed protective gear, which he made for their hospital’s emergency department.
Power Rangers
Pe, along with nurses in the hospital, also came up with Power Rangers-themed hazmats. Check out the crew rocking the colorful suits and holding medical equipment as their "weapons" of choice. "My goal is for each member of the healthcare team to feel confident rather than scared when they step inside the battlefield each day," explains Pe on his IG post. "I hope these hazmat suits empower everyone, nurses and patients alike."
Pretty in Pink
The OBGYN residents in Iloilo Mission Hospital donned pastel pink PPE suits designed by JQ Garments Iloilo along with cute lavender gloves to complete the look. Though not modeled after any particular film or TV show, you can't deny that seeing these healthcare workers decked out in pretty hues would be enough to make any patient or passerby smile.
this strange new world.