We often associate the fashion industry with mass overproduction and a speedy turnover.
In contrast, Angel Chang has spent the better part of the last decade researching and building her clothing line, focusing on tradition and sustainability. Working with Indigenous artisans in rural China, her pieces are made of just three ingredients: sun, plants, and mountain water.
In her early career, Chang debuted a line of high-tech synthetic garments and worked with a large activewear brand. It was during this time that she saw the firsthand impacts of the fashion industry on a global scale and decided to look deeper into her ancestry and natural technology for a solution.
While visiting the Shanghai Museum in 2009, she was inspired by an exhibit of meticulously detailed and embroidered costumes from the Miao, an ethnic minority group in China. As the costumes were made in 1990, she knew the artisans would still be alive, and that weekend, she took a trip to the Guizhou province to visit them.
Upon arriving, she learned that the traditional textile techniques used by villagers were dying, given the lack of interest of younger generations. The locals who practiced the traditional craft weren’t initially interested in sharing their experiences with Chang either, given they made these fabrics for personal use only.
So, she spent years fostering relationships with the locals and understanding their roots, negotiating and renegotiating production for her collection along the way. The craftsmanship practiced by the Miao focuses on much more holistic sources as opposed to the fashion industry we know. Their work is guided by the seasons and nature: the cotton used is grown locally; if there is a certain colour needed, they wait for the right flower to be in bloom to make the dye; there is little to no electricity, so in the warmer months, everything is done outdoors using the sunlight.
“It’s fascinating to me to think about our clothes [as] closer to something like wine. We’ve become so used to thinking about them as something that’s factory-made, not something that’s connected to the earth and to the seasons and to these other time cycles,” says Chang on the Time Sensitive podcast. “When I’m in the village, it is a lot like wine, the climate on one side of the mountain can affect how the embroideries and colour is developed on the other side of the mountain.”
Chang now splits her time between this mountainous region and her office in New York, paving the way for eco-conscious and deliberate slow fashion.
Her latest collection is made up of lightweight, handmade organic cotton dresses and separates. Not only is each item made using all-natural sustainable techniques, but they also serve as an important vessel to honour and preserve cultural traditions.
All images in this article are courtesy of Angel Chang.
