The 25-year-old Omarama woman is putting her time in lockdown to good use, creating a line of stylish face masks to help fill the national supply shortage.
While not having access to suppliers had forced her to be "a bit more creative", she was "lucky" her mother, Karen Ward, an interior designer, had a workroom full of cotton, elastic and a variety of fabrics at home in Omarama, Miss Wilson said.
She found some mask designs online and used her creative talents to adapt them.
From there, her sister created a logo for her new business, which she has called Face It. A friend helped her set up an online presence.
"I initially thought it would just be friends and family buying ... but over the past few days orders have been coming in from people I don’t know," she said.
The goal of Face It was not to make money, she said.
"It’s about offering New Zealanders the opportunity to have that extra level of protection," she said.
While her masks were more stylish than a traditional medical mask, they were not a fashion accessory, she said.
"My motivation was to make a unisex, reusable mask that gave people the confidence to wear one in public."
• Face It masks are available online at bit.ly/347iw06
