Welcome to Pandemic Stories, a living history about the deadliest pandemic outbreak of the last century.
In today’s edition, I speak with a fashion student who has turned the quarantine into a way to help her community and sharpen her skills at the same time.
If you have a story you want to share, email me at JordanZakarin@gmail.com.
This was supposed to be one of the most exciting times in Jackie Cabrera’s life. A senior at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, she’s a talented designer who was on the verge of that magic first summer out of school, armed with internship experience, a huge portfolio of designs and ideas, and all of NYC at her doorstep.
Instead, she’s stuck at home like the rest of us, her classes now online, her friends in quarantine, and the industry she’s worked day and night to join now at a standstill. But instead of wallowing in her apartment, Jackie decided to step up and put her skills to good use for her suffering community, turning her apartment into a mini-factory and producing face masks for New Yorkers.
We first connected in a Facebook group for people in our neighborhood, where she was offering to deliver her masks to anyone that needed one (while adhering to safe social distancing measures and wearing protection herself, of course). We exchanged a few emails last night — read the edited conversation below and check out her Instagram tutorial if you want to make your own masks.
You are a month from graduating and trying to get a job. Are the pandemic and quarantine going to make it much harder to break in?
This has certainly been on my mind. I definitely think it will and honestly already has. My paid internship ended three weeks early due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and two of the weeks during the internship were worked from home because of the outbreak as well. That's pretty much five weeks of time taken away from my experience entering and my chance to make an impression on a potential employer post-graduation. However, I am thankful I was able to work from home for two weeks and show my dedication throughout this time.
I was also working part-time as a sales associate for 260 Sample Sale, but we were told to file for unemployment once the quarantine started. My credited internship for school is still allowing me to work from home so I am trying hard to show my work ethic in hopes of a potential job offer post-graduation, but it's kind of difficult to do through Slack.
When did you decide to make the masks? What materials have you been using?
I decided to make the masks early this week after seeing so many fashion companies manufacturing them as well.
I have been using leftover fabrics that I have accumulated over the past four years of college! My boyfriend always complains about the big bags of fabric thrown in our closet but I hate throwing things away when they may have a future use! I'm glad I kept the extra fabric and I was able to use it sustainably.
Are you getting a good response from people?
I'm getting an amazing response from people! I have gotten so many orders already when I just started posting a few days ago. I am so grateful. I am selling them for $12 each or three for $30. But if you are unable to afford one due to financial hardships I am happy to donate one. I am also going to begin sewing caps and donating them to Mount Sinai Hospital this week.
If you want to buy a mask from Jackie, get in touch with her via her site’s contact page.