Q&A with Angel Chang (Angel Chang)

Hi Angel. OK, let’s roll… Who are you? Give us a little narrative please.
I am a fashion designer merging womenswear with new materials and innovative technology. I am also a freelance journalist, a trend consultant, and what some might call a futurist. Before launching my own label, I trained in the design studios of Donna Karan Collection, Viktor & Rolf, Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui. I also freelanced and wrote for fashion magazines (W Magazine, Vogue.com France, Vogue Hommes) and started up my own art & culture quarterly (Me Magazine).

You’re ambidextrous, it seems…
To a limit: fashion is a business, and successful fashion designers need a solid business partner to ensure the longevity of their line. Yves Saint Laurent has Pierre Berge; Tom Ford has Domenico de Sole; Marc Jacobs has Robert Duffy. But design and commerce interact like oil and water in fashion companies, so it was only after starting my own line that I learned the numbers and sales side because I had to. While I ended up winning an international business plan competition (Cartier Women’s Initiative Award), numbers are definitely not my forte. I am still looking for a business partner so I can concentrate on the creative.

Yes, having that kind of collaborative partnership is critical. Why did you choose fashion?
Fashion is all about deception and selling an unattainable image of glamour, and this is what lured me in the beginning. Fashion as we experience it in New York does not exist in the same way, if at all, in my home state of Indiana. Growing up, I loved flipping through fashion glossies like Vogue and Elle and obsessively watched runways shows on “Style with Elsa Klensch”. When I was 16, I wrote a fan letter to Anna Sui, my favorite designer at the time. She gave me the scoop on what a designer’s life would be like, offered me an internship in NY, and that’s how my life in fashion started.

So you want to deceive people and sell them something unattainable?

That’s not exactly my motive, but it’s certainly the way fashion companies market themselves. Fashion is essentially smoke and mirrors. It’s like defining what “cool” is. Once something is totally accessible, it’s no longer “cool” or “fashionable” anymore. We always want what we can’t have.

What is unique about what you do, what you offer the market?
My label marries two areas (fashion & tech) that people normally do not combine into a luxury product. My collections try to look at clothing in a new, inventive way that addresses the way we live today. The clothes are also fun and playful. Fashion is about looking towards the future, not repeating the past, and this is what I try to offer with my work.

So, if I hear you correctly, you’re offering people fashion, tech, function and fun?
The brand also allows people to think about the future, which is more important for them than I initially thought. When my “fans” talk to me, they mention NASA, Virgin Galactic, the 40th anniversary of the man on the moon… all of which carry a sense of optimism about our future. On the surface, my collection looks trendy and fun, but it’s this utopian vision that really attracts people to the brand.

Do you feel responsibility as a designer to affect positive change through your work, or is this about making great clothes for people to wear?
The role of fashion designers is to listen to what the client wants and make them feel good in what they wear. Positive change for me is designing clothes that liberate women from the constraints of tradition and, hence, traditional clothing - wrinkle-free fabrics, pockets in dresses, and shirts that lengthen to dresses are all subtle ways of doing this.

I see… How has your work evolved since your launch collection (Fall ‘08)?
The launch collection was an experiment, to make a statement to both the fashion and tech industries that it was possible to merge both sides in an aesthetically-pleasing way. There was a light-up raincoat, heat-sensitive prints, clothing with built-in iPod controls, and 3-D prints. This season (Fall ‘08), I focused on building a travel wardrobe. Women are traveling more these days, and they need clothing that can facilitate their busy lifestyle.

Have the collections sold well? What insights have you picked up from the selling process and how are these insights affecting your marketing & sales strategy?
In the luxury market, it’s difficult to make money just on the clothes, even for the established brands. For an emerging brand, this is a challenge because we do not have the licensing deals or product extensions that can cover the cost of the ready-to-wear business. My plan is to leverage the strengths of the brand (fashion + tech + art) to develop partnerships, seek co-branding opportunities and develop capsule collections for larger brands.

Art is in the mix as well! Any big plans for ’08 and ’09?
The most interesting things can happen between the most unlikely partnerships. Right now, I’m developing a flexible conductive electro textile (with a German chemical company) that will be smothered with bright LEDs. They have the R&D and manufacturing resources, and I can turn it into a fashion product. It would be impossible for either side to do it on our own. I’m also looking into building my website into order to communicate directly with the end consumer.

Long-term, which markets do you think hold the most potential for AC?
Millennials [18-28] seem to gravitate towards my collection in the stores. They are the emerging luxury consumer and equate luxury with technology in a way that older generations do not. The travel market is also an area I’m exploring since airline restrictions (and global warming) have changed the way we pack.

Your work doesn’t sound very sustainable or “green”? Is that something you or the Millennials you’re targeting care about? If so, how do you square up your values with the business to keep things authentic and aligned?
Sustainability in fashion is possible for contemporary and denim labels that have access to eco-friendly processes and use cotton primarily. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to find sustainable fabrics in my market (designer womenswear) because we use silk, wool and other fabrics that have not really been explored by sustainable fabric producers yet. We’re dependent on fabric mills to produce these types of fabrics for us to buy, so I am hopeful they will develop them soon.

Let’s lighten this up a bit, shall we? What’s inspiring you in fashion right now?
My favorite labels are Lanvin, Hussein Chalayan and Balenciaga. But I think menswear, active sportswear, and accessories are the most innovative areas of fashion today because they are introducing new ways of wearing clothes and changing the context in which they are being worn. Stella McCartney’s line for Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto’s Y-3 line are very hip, and I can’t wait to see what Hussein Chalayan will do for Puma!

OK, last Q. Any guiding philosophies to share with IBC readers?
Joseph Campbell once said that we each have a passion and it’s our goal to find that passion and pursue it with all our heart or never be truly be happy in life. This has guided me through all my career decisions since I was a teenager. Also, follow your intuition, aim high, believe in yourself, and have the courage to take risks. Women are often taught to take the safe route in life, so learning how to do the opposite has been a very liberating and rewarding experience. Finally, Donna Karan also said: “Don’t believe the good reviews, because then you’ll have to believe the bad ones.” Wise words from an amazing woman.

Thanks, Angel. This took some work, but I think it’s worth the effort. It’ll be very interesting to watch your brand and business model evolve…

Here’s a link to Angel Chang’s website.