a nice concept, but they're a hoax. Phil of flyingchair.net posted a photo showing an alluring model wearing a Vuitton mask. One boingboing.net user posted an analysis on why he thinks the mask was photoshopped; well, there's no evidence more damning than before and after photos:

Courtesy of google.com image search, the original was found here.

didn't think it would take long and we knew it was a fake but in this part of the world there has been a running joke with the concept of a louis vitton face mask (this is the city where 70% of people now wear them and LV is God).

Posted by: phil on April 21, 2003 01:41 PM

What was the Google search, please?

Posted by: Michael Bernstein on April 21, 2003 02:39 PM

It was just a simple search for "Vuitton" on Google image search. I found the image through a link that came up on the second or third page.

Posted by: jeremy on April 21, 2003 02:52 PM

Thanks. I suppose I should have tried that.

Note to self: "Google knows everything. Check Google first."

Posted by: Michael Bernstein on April 21, 2003 08:47 PM

Knew the picture was fake, when i first saw it, as i had seen the original, that very day. It had come out in the newspaper. the topic was "butt cleavage" - the new rage in fashion. ain't that more interesting than sars face masks

Posted by: Rohit on April 22, 2003 12:08 AM

I don't know if this has been pointed out elsewhere, but there's something real fetishy about that and other designer-SARS-mask pix. Like I see the second shot, and I'm like, "Ooooh, kinky!" I wonder if SARS-mask fetish sites have popped up yet, or if this is the greatest business opportunity since flamingyak.com.

Posted by: m4dd4wg on April 24, 2003 11:31 PM

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,260345,00.jpg

Posted by: mm on May 3, 2003 08:57 PM

The Louis Vuitton Sars mask may have been a hoax; but the designer mask from EnviroAir is not! Check out www.enviroairmask.com. It offers incrediby filtering capabilities--with real fashion flair.

Posted by: Keith Radley on January 13, 2004 04:45 PM

the sars mask may be fake but being sprayed with chemicals and nerve agents are real. For the love of money, we are destoying ourselves and our future generation. Wake up people. I did wake up one morning with no muscles and hugh tumors within 5 minutes of breathing mosquito spray where the government gave each city 100,000 grant to spray it. These are nerve agents they are spraying. Look at symptoms of mad cow, gulf war syndrome, gillian barre, ms, lg disease....it is all the same. Wake up and help us save ourselves and the innocent. The medical profession knows. I was told by one doctor that most people that have been exposed to a nerve agent just go ahead and die. I was told at center of disease control to wear a sars mask and continue to see a neurologist. I woke up and so can you before you wake up one morning with the symptoms.

Posted by: Jo Ann on May 21, 2004 06:56 PM