Saul Sugarman’s Nerdy Fabulous Masks Offer Something for Everyone
By: Sophia Smith
Tags: Style, Mask Envy, San Francisco, Clothes, Bay Area

I live in “mid” Sunset now (near 18th and Irving) and currently like a good book — up to my eyeballs right now in David Sedaris and Roger Ebert — and long walks. Pre-Covid, I loved throwing fabulous dinner parties and equally loved taking myself to a movie. And up until the pandemic, I threw events at Castro neighborhood bars. In addition to apparel, I currently write about cocktails for SF Examiner. I recently profiled Drollinger for them.

How did you start Sugarman Apparel?

My apparel really began as disco attire, and not so ironically: I wanted to be a disco ball for my birthday in 2015. D’Arcy Drollinger threw a Sexitude event in mine and one other dancer’s honor at SF Oasis. I couldn’t find a disco helmet for purchase online except for this Instructable by another local designer, Natalie Walsh. After wearing it that night, my friend encouraged me to open an Etsy. So Sugarman Apparel began as an Etsy and Facebook page called “Sparkles by Saul.”

Photo courtesy of Saul Sugarman

On a whim, I took out a $20 Facebook ad, which reached the costuming people for Miley Cyrus. She wore it on tour as her finale piece for six months, you can see it here in this New York Times article, and elsewhere. I personally think it inspired the current army of disco helmets for sale on Etsy now, and it was also essentially the beginning of my apparel brand as it exists today.

I made the disco mask sort of as a funny and fierce social media offshoot, and people relentlessly asked if they could buy one as a stand-alone piece. These hand-pieced masks are tricky to make, so I’ve declined thus far to sell it without a helmet.

What do you mean by “hand-pieced”?

It means I make them by hand, with my own fingers, hand stitching, or placing and gluing pieces. My orchid mask, disco mask, and jeweled mask are examples of this. The latter piece is an estimated 50 acrylic jewels with metal backings. A lot of shiny apparel is glued, but these pieces had to be sewn because the mask sits on the face, where one breathes, so I didn’t want customers inhaling fumes all day. I haven’t properly timed it, but it takes at least a solid 16 hours stitching in all the jewels, not to mention a reasonably elaborate wiring system I designed so the mask maintains that shape.

Photo courtesy of Saul Sugarman

Can you tell us about your collaborations with other artists?

The jeweled mask is part of a collaboration with artist Kate Tova, who did amazing, beautiful murals this summer that commented on the Black Lives Matter movement. She is among 14 artists and muralists I’ve collaborated with to put their work on masks, each with licensing agreements that have paid them thousands of dollars. The most popular among them is this mask (photographed outside Beaux) by artist Elliott C Nathan.

Photo courtesy of Saul Sugarman

It’s worth noting those printed pieces and colorful masks are made by several local seamstresses, some from Knobs at 432 Castro Street, a current collaborator of mine. Another seamstress I recruited out of CCSF, where I’d just started taking some fashion classes before the pandemic. I also machine sew a lot of pieces in my home studio.

A lot of your masks are video game or pop culture inspired. Is there anything or anywhere you draw particular inspiration from?

I’m not sure which ones are pop culture inspired, except the Marvel, DC Comics, and Pokemon masks, which I’d all group under “nerd” inspired. The inspiration is from the “Gaymer” community, a local collective of geeks in the Bay Area with whom I’ve made a name for myself through branding and throwing events, most recently at Midnight Sun and Detour.