Isolation as a Creative Catalyst

Works produced under periods of exile and quarantine: Shakespeare’s King Lear & Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity (isolation from the bubonic plague), Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (exile from Napoleon’s France), and Simone de Beauvior’s Les Bouches inutiles (exile from Nazi-occupied France). Shakespeare’s King Lear is basically a play about a family that kills each other in a horribly gruesome style, no doubt influenced by his own experience trapped inside a cottage in the English countryside. Although their works span centuries, each artist utilized their time in exile as a period for reflection and creativity, enabling them to produce hallmarks. For these artists, quarantine strengthened an already running current of artistic expression. 

Once more, COVID-19 gives creatives, both amateur and advanced, the chance to devote more time to their work or explore new avenues of expression. Fashion due to its low cost, wearability, and accessibility has become a frequented form of expression in quarantine. In this article, we will look at four different Northwestern students and one local Chicago designer to see how quarantine has impacted their craft. 

Over quarantine and after 11 years, Kate O’Donnell, Northwestern Alumni and creative writing major, got back into sewing. Growing up, she had sewn Star Wars Halloween costumes for her twin brothers as a child, but had given up the pastime as she grew up. Having graduated, O’Donnell relapsed to her old practice. She started off creating an apron, and then followed with a pair of overalls. Unlike the apron, the overalls turned out to be ill fitting and awkward, a trickier sew than the apron for O’Donnell. After completed the overalls, O’Donnell said “I never have a desire to see anyone in overalls ever again.” Although they may not have turned out like she wanted, quarantine ignited a youthful passion for clothing making she had forgotten.

Ellie Odom, a rising Sophomore from Chicago, began adding personalized elements to her clothing during quarantine, blending her love for art and style. Ellie, like most other creatives in this article, sought an artistic outlet to placate her quarantine boredom. Having to evacuate college without much time to pack, Odom left most of her clothes behind. Stuck at home without her favorite pieces, it was time to add some character to long-forgotten clothing. Odom began by bleaching an old pair of thrifted jeans (an added plus for sustainably) with a paintbrush, subverting the common rubber band twist plus bleach technique. She “took a paintbrush, dipped it in bleach, and drew flames onto the jeans,” Odom said, “it allowed for more detail, but destroyed the brush.” She had never bleached before but with the unscheduled time from quarantine she was able to explore the popular online technique. Continuing off the success of the jeans, Odom tried her hand at making clothing from scratch. Without a sewing machine, Odom created a silk undershirt with a backless cowl neck top held together by string -- fashion truly has a low barrier to entry. A physical craft, clothing design enables the artist to see their piece come together and physically control the presentation, unlike other art forms.

On a similar note, rising Sophomore and Medill student Julia Karten, has also explored the avocational side of fashion. However, Karten saw the potential for commercial revenue and capitalized. She got the idea to make the business because she wanted to produce in a way that was both fulfilling and gave back to the community. She started making bracelets for her friends and family. As more and more requests came in, Karten decided to make an Instagram and start fulfilling orders from online customers. Karten started by creating only bracelets, but gradually expanded into rings and chokers. The cornerstone of her business model is the element of personalization: each customer can customize the design of their jewelry. “Typically customers chose sorority letters, phrases, and other details,” Karten said. At a point when contamination fears are peaking, Karten said she “makes sure we wipe down all the products…all the jewelry is wiped down with disinfectant wipes before it leaves the house.”

It can be overwhelming at times, Karten said. She spoke about how she feels a pressure to keep followers engaged with new content and designs, and so far she seems to be highly successful. Alumni, tertiary connections, and complete strangers have all ordered from her site. The success of her Instagram page (@quaranbeads_) has inspired her to expand to other commercial platforms.

But it’s not just about the jewelry for Karten. There are other social justice components. She hopes that the customizations customers request reminds them of pre-quarantine times. Hopefully, they can be reminded of those positive memories when they wear the piece. Additionally, 20% of all profits go to help local COVID-19 efforts in Karten’s hometown. While she is waiting for a larger fund to donate all at once, Karten’s profits go directly to those in need.

 Unlike the other designers, Simon Goldman is not a Northwestern student. He is a local designer and a rising Sophomore at Pratt Institute for Design in New York. Simon also has been able to capitalize on shifting quarantine styles to produce his own line of face masks that he sells, like Julia Karten, on Instagram. Designers no longer require brand name houses to support them, an Instagram page alone is enough, claims Goldman, they have the ability to work from home. 

Goldman has reinvented the proverbial face-mask wheel with his design. A friend of Goldman’s mentioned how the medical-grade masks caught on his glasses. There was a binary option between protection and comfort. Instead of elastic straps for the ears, he added a paracord with elastic stoppers. The face mask itself is made of a breathable fabric. When asked about his design process, Simon said “I wanted my clothing to be ubiquitous and something non-prohibitive. I wanted to make something" that was quotidian.

Although, the universality of his masks did not prevent creativity.Simon has a collection of masks that range in material from corduroy to bandana.

Also similar to Julia Karten, Goldman does not collect 100% profit from the masks. He donates a large portion, the exact percentage went unspecified, to help LGBTQ+ artists in Chicago. This cause resonated to him because back in New York, a lot of designers have been suffering due to the cancellation of Fashion Week and the drop in retail sales. Goldman was able to shed more light on this subject. He said that many small designers who have strong collections but depend on private sales have been pushed out of the market. Already hierarchical and ruthless, the combined pressures of the fashion industry and this economic downturn have made it impossible for designers to be profitable. Goldman said that as a result of this crisis more designers have been previewing their collections on Amazon in an attempt to garner any commercial revenue for their brand. Despite never being a fashion mainstay, it appears that Amazon has been able to become an integral part of the fashion industry via this dilemma.

We would be remiss to not make something out of quarantine. Whether that be using an 11 year old sewing kit, trying out a new painting style, or raising money for various causes dear to us, we have been given the chance to explore and create. We aren’t creating our magnum opus, but we are experimenting with passion. Like Shakespeare said in his quarantine work King Lear “We that are young / Shall never see so much, nor live so long.”