"2020" drawn out in gold sparklers — Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

By: Kristen P Ahern

New in 2020! Let’s focus on (because it’s 2020...get it?) some of the heroic work already happening in creating more Conscious Costumes. Each month I will feature one person who I consider a Conscious Hero relating to the creation of Conscious Costumes.

To launch this series, I’m starting close to home with an activist in the local Chicago theatre community who has a voice on the national level. She is a friend, mentor, and personal hero of mine: Elsa Hiltner.

I assisted Elsa early in my career and learned so much about the problematic textile industry right out of the gate. Then, in 2016, Elsa shared the depth of her activism for better working conditions for costume designers by writing a compelling (and controversial) essay featured in Howlround that called out lack of labor support for costumes in many theatres and the relationship with the gendered history of theatrical design fields and sewing as a craft. In the article she calls for sweeping change in budgeting and hiring practices by small and midsize theatres who often require costume designers to recruit and pay for their own labor.

Elsa’s defines herself as a storyteller, her “costumes speak about the characters, relationships, the plot, and environment all while looking as natural on the surface as if the characters had dressed themselves.” Add to that her dedication to raising up her fellow designers, women, and textile workers and you can see why she was the obvious choice for my first #ConsciousHeroOTM!

Elsa motivates me to examine my process and she inspired me to really explore environmentalism in costume design. Her knowledge and passion for human rights encouraged me to dig deeper, beyond environmental impact, to pursue advocacy for more holistic conscious costumes that consider the people and the planet impacted by the creation and disposal of each costume I design.

Right now, Elsa serves as the Director of Development for Collaboraction, “an ethno-diverse theatre company using art to dismantle oppression and transform Chicago,” and designs costumes for theatre and commercials. Her work will continue to inspire me to be a more considerate artist and I am so grateful to know her!

If you think work like this is important and want to see more of it, please consider becoming a patron for as little as $2/month and gain access to exclusive content.