There are many sights one sees in 2020 that give the year a distinct dystopian Sci-Fi vibe. Mega-cities like New York being ground to a halt. Great Depression-style lines outside of Trader Joe’s. And now Louis Vuitton’s 2021 Cruise Collection has offered something new for the list: a monogram-print face shield.

But perhaps what’s so eerie about this new LV accessory is how much sense it makes. With travel built into the brand’s DNA, and with frequent fliers like Naomi Campbell turning HAZMAT outfits into a fashion statement, it was only a matter of time before the LV monogram took the fashion mask all the way to full-on shield levels. Furthermore, with PPE-wearing long being common practice in East Asia (plus with Mykita and Bernhard Willhem already making face visors a thing), this seems like something that might have been on the moldboard before the pandemic even struck.

But perhaps the best way to look at Louis Vuitton’s face shield is to imagine it in 100 years, sitting in a museum as a symbol of a time when almost 30 million people contracted a super-flu and our collective desire to think too much about our accessories persisted against all odds. At least this is why we’re buying one…