Katrin Schnabl’s studio

Working out of the basement of her home in Old Irving Park, designer Katrin Schnabl’s daily life offers ample distractions from sketching, sewing, drafting and draping. Given the lack of routine, she relies on simple rituals, or “mechanisms,” to set the tone for her day: a clean space and a cup of tea. “I love black tea British-style with milk and sugar. I’ll pour a cup of tea, go downstairs, take a deep breath and look around,” she says. “It’s pretty much about capturing that thread of where I was when I left here, reconnecting with that last thought on my mind.”

Since she’s essentially running a small factory, Schnabl wears several hats, from shipping manager to supervisor to creative director to pattern cutter. Every day in the studio starts with an Excel spreadsheet, noting where each piece falls in the process of production, who’s doing what and which task falls under the “high priority” category.

That’s three days a week. The rest of her time, in addition to being a mother, she’s teaching design to undergrads at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and coordinating the graduate fashion-design program. Given her time constraints and the fact that she’s not currently selling at any boutiques, Schnabl opts not to strictly adhere to the standard fashion-industry schedule. Instead, she sells her classic, seasonal (roughly available at the start of the spring and fall seasons) and artisanal pieces at events and, starting in 2010, on her website.

That’s not to say Schnabl doesn’t care for deadlines. “I take [them] really more as a marker than a definite end of a thought process or investigation,” she says.

Currently, she’s navigating two distinct but complementary projects. The first: designing costumes for choreographer Jennifer Monson for a dance about the Mahomet Aquifer, a body of water beneath central Illinois. Large sheets of paper scrawled with topographical maps hang from a wall in her studio. A photograph of Monson wearing experimental pieces of knit muslin inspired by the maps showcases the translation from drawing to design.

The second project, which Schnabl imagines will lend itself to several upcoming collections, hinges on the notion of interdependent relationships and the way one body shapes another. For her research, Schnabl is assigning an idea or phrase to small groups of dancers and observing them as they improvise and riff on the prompts.

Schnabl’s yard hosts an ongoing investigation as well: a rectangle of knitted plastic bags suspended from two poles with plant vines weaving themselves into the “fabric.” Branching off a previous body of research focused on dwindling resources, the experiment represents a step in Schnabl’s intention to “grow a coat.” She plans to show a series of plastic structures related to the same concept at a gallery/store in New York next summer after working through this year’s kinks, such as disintegrating materials.

One resource Schnabl’s never lacking? Inspiration. “My mind activates easily to the broadest range of issues, so my work is kind of grounding for me,” she says. “It’s the place where I can unload and investigate, journey and draw parallels and connections that range from geopolitical to cultural to psychological issues.”

As conceptual as her work is, however, the ultimate test is how the garment looks and feels on the body, the moment at which it becomes animated. In addition to repeatedly trying on her own work, she invites everyone who comes into her studio to test out pieces of clothing so she can see how the items fit various body types.

“For me, the garment is nothing until someone wears it,” Schnabl says. “It gives it,” she pauses and blows a puff of air between her lips, “life.”

Schnabl exhibits her work Friday 23, 4–6pm at Fashion Focus’s Style Stop (72 E Randolph St).

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