SCICON Sports swaps production to develop face masks in response to global demand

SCICON Sports has pivoted its production of bags and protective eyewear in light of the current pandemic to manufacture a selection of personal protection items that aim to support the improvement of public health.

Following the example of many other companies in the textile sector, SCICON Sports is joining the effort and has converted its entire production line to create protective respirator face masks and protective eyewear in response to the increasingly pressing request of companies, private entities and law enforcement agencies for protective equipment.

In addition to offering sports bags and protective eyewear, SCICON Sports also manufactures custom cycling clothing in-house under the FTECH brand (www.ftech.it) which has led to a wealth of experience and know-how in the field of apparel manufacture for over 10 years.

Located in Veneto, one of both Italy and the world’s most affected areas by COVID-19, SCICON Sports presents the first model of a protective respirator face mask following extensive prototype testing and the selection of various fabrics in collaboration with leading Italian fabric suppliers. The new development and line also serves to keep the production team in work at this difficult time.

The new mask complies with FFP1 standards – denominating the level of protection offered by the fabric used when filtering the air and impurities, even if it is not currently approved as such, as timelines simply do not allow rapid testing. An application with the Italian National Institute of Health has been made. As of now, SCICON Sports’ protective respirator face masks are considered as “filtering screens”, designed and manufactured on the basis of Article 16 Paragraph 2 of an Decree issued by the Italian Government on March 17, that authorises the production and distribution of filtering masks without CE mark and excludes them from prepossession of commercial standards.

In addition to the newly developed protective respirator face masks, SCICON Sports also offers highly protective AeroTech eyewear equipped with clear lenses, the same model that is sported by 3 World Tour cycling teams.

Claudio Fantin, Marketing Strategist of the ASG Group, which SCICON and FTECH are part of, said: “We decided to try our best to help with our team at great effort. We have been developing high-performance products for athletes for 40 years now and we are convinced that many others can protect themselves. Technical cycling fabrics are ideal for masks and sports eyewear are very effective screens for protecting the eyes from saliva. We admit that we are at war and we must unite to win the fight against COVID-19. We urge all apparel manufacturers to follow our model and we are ready to provide as much insight as we can to help, from drawings, data sheets and information on materials, to tips and suggestions for anyone that wants to follow suit.”

SCICON Sports has not confirmed its daily production capacity, as the supply of raw materials and potential closure of productions of suppliers remains uncertain and relies on the enforcement of the latest decree issued by the Italian Government to further reduce the impact of the pandemic.