Cartier Women's Initiative Awards

Angel Chang: “I’m now proud to call myself an entrepreneur”

Raincoats that light up, clothing that not only changes color, but has natural resistance to body-odor, or simply knickers with built in controls for your iPod… If Angel Chang has any say in the matter, clothes could get to be a whole lot smarter.

Angel graduated from New York’s Barnard College with a BA in art history & visual arts. Following internships in the design studios at Marc Jacobs and Viktor & Rolf, she returned to Columbia University in 2001 to complete an MA in modern art theory. Next stop: a job at Donna Karan as a Design Assistant for Womenswear the following year.

Whilst at Donna Karan, Angel had her first taste of the business start-up, co founding the art and culture quarterly Me Magazine. Since leaving in 2005, she has combined running her own label with working as a freelance journalist for Vogue.com France and as a consultant for influential New York fashion magazine, W.

Clothing that performs and looks good

“Working at Donna Karan, I noticed a trend in collaborations between fashion and technology”, explains Angel. “But these were more or less superficial. I tried unsuccessfully to interest various design teams in incorporating intelligent fabrics, but all the prototypes available in the market at the time were just too technical and lacked a sense of style. It was hard for our designers to envision their potential. I knew the fashion industry would love intelligent clothing, if only they were designed in a beautiful way!”

After taking several years to study wearable technology, Angel designed a test collection in September 2006 that she thought would be both innovative and stylish at the same time. “The press responded amazingly well,” continues Angel. “And in January this year I was awarded the prestigious Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award to produce a show for my second collection.”

Angel’s line of performance womenswear is based on ideas that she has developed over the last year: heat-sensitive color changing inks, 3D prints, light-up clothing with LEDs, and garments that incorporate iPod controls. Each garment is designed in collaboration with a range of experienced technologists in New York. They are targeted at young, trend-setting professional women who want innovative, luxurious clothing that go beyond just looking good.

Putting it all together

A recent loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration in conjunction with the Baruch Small Business Development Center, an organization that supports business start-ups in New York, will enable Angel to design her third collection. She heard about the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards through a friend in business school who recommended she apply. “The business side of things is where I need some coaching,” says Angel. “I know how to put together a fashion collection, but putting together a detailed business strategy is not something I have a lot of experience with.”

“Being chosen as a finalist in the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards has completely changed my attitude to being an entrepreneur,” concludes Angel. “It used to be frustrating to have to spend more time crunching numbers than designing the clothes, but having this recognition is like somebody telling me I’m finally on the right track.”