ANGEL CHEN: The Technicolor of Chinese Streetwear

When we look for the future of fashion, where do we start?

Designers like Angel Chen would say to start searching within the rich diversity of cultures and raw human connection from across the globe.
Angel Chen (label ANGEL CHEN) is part of the new wave of young, female Chinese designers making a global impact on the future of fashion. Having been shown on the official Milan Fashion Week calendar since her appearance in 2017, Chen embodies her views on heritage and style through her signature streetwear: a fusion of eastern and western aesthetics, saturated with color.

*(Photo by Bohan Qiu via* *Lane Crawford*)

Chen’s love for art and fashion was largely instilled in her by childhood influences that impacted her perspective on heritage, style, and emotional connections during her upbringing in China.

In an interview with film director Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Chen discussed her color-centric approaches to building a collection:

“When I'm creating a collection, the first element I keep in mind is color. I want to make sure the collection is full of color because my family background is in painting, and my dad is kind of a color engineer, and he has been sitting in a lab and discovering color his whole life [...] I always have tons of inspiration come from seeing his work.”

*(Photo by Canada Goose via* *Fashion Magazine*)

She further elaborated on the inspirations she drew from her family, describing the way she would marvel at her mother’s style and learn from her grandmother’s skill with clothing and papercraft. “My grandmother would prepare my meals with her imagination; she would use her skillful hands to make an egg into a rabbit shape with sesame eyes.”

Chen ultimately said:

“When I design or when I draw, I always think about my family. They give me so much inspiration, and they kind of taught me all the way through.”

Originally from Shenzhen, China, Chen moved to London at seventeen to study fashion at Central Saint Martins in London, an internationally-renowned university home to alumni and household names like Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Christopher Kane. During her placement years, she interned for Marchesa, Vera Wang, and Alexander Wang in New York. For her graduate collection, “Les Noces,” Chen was chosen by British culture magazine i-D as one of the 5 designers-to-watch in 2013, launching her Shanghai-based label the following year.

Angel Chen has largely impacted the representation of young Chinese creatives in the international market. In 2017, her work appeared in the window display of London’s Oxford Street Urban Outfitters, marking the first-of-its-kind collaboration between a Chinese designer and high street retailer. She also became the first-ever Chinese designer to collaborate with H&M, crafting a 45-piece collection for release on September 26 of 2019, exemplifying her signature approach to color and versatile design. In May 2020, she dropped a colorful collection of eight unique sneakers with Adidas Originals. Chen has also collaborated with Canada Goose, included in her Fall-Winter 2020 collection.

In addition to company collaborations, Chen has made custom clothing for high-profile celebrities such as Chris Lee, Kris Wu, Fan Bingbing, Bella Hadid, and Charli XCX.

Her goal is not to set trends, but rather to create quality long-lasting garments that can be cherished intimately and with longevity. Along with her core values of color design, Chen explains her process and intention behind each of her pieces:

“I always spend a lot of time on different traditional techniques including hand embroidery, hand-screened prints [...] I think craftsmanship is about heritage, history, life, and culture.The product that you create with lots of care and lots of thought and lots of craftsmanship will always last longer and create a more emotional connection.”

(Angel Chen Shanghai, Spring 2022, Look 6)

Lastly, Chen explained her desire to create contemporary, gender-neutral clothing that could be worn without the barrier of one’s country, age, or gender. A large component of Chen’s philosophy is a wish for those who wear her designs to find their own magic and unique connection to each piece.

Angel Chen’s most recently released collection, Shanghai Spring 2022, traces a pivot from her classically streetwear-inspired designs for more historically East-Asian and Chinese silhouettes. Primary elements of the theme include robe-like coats, wide sleeves, lightweight silks, silk organzas, and cupro fabric.

Nonetheless, what made the collection truly extraordinary was the showing that went along with it. To complement the culturally-rooted theme, the show turned into a performance that told a love story between two dancers, which was led by Ma Xiaolong and Zhang Yashu. In a Zoom interview via Vogue, Chen explained her excitement for her spring collection’s show:

“It is my dream. I have wanted to do this performance show for my whole life,” she said.

Chen’s inspiration derived from traditional Chinese martial arts stories and films such as 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and 2002’s Hero for both the collection and the show.

Some pieces were embroidered with phrases in Chinese characters, from which Chen translates: “when the stars start to rise, and when the spring becomes autumn, and when the winter becomes summer--no matter which season we meet, I will always love you.”

The concept behind the collection was supplemented with carefully crafted techniques and features, brought to light with the help of Amey Sali, a Shanghai-based Indian artist. Sali hand-painted some pieces using his techniques like dipping, marbling, swirling, and dye/paint blotting into the fabric. Chen marveled at their collaboration, saying, “Amey’s art is big and spectacular, so I didn’t cut small shapes.”

(Angel Chen Shanghai Spring 2022, Look 20)

Chen’s vision for the collection was an overall billowed and swirling feel, though to which Chen carefully worked around to add in constructed details such as large folded pleats, high slits, and cascades of ties to tailor each piece slightly differently. Chen trained in ballet before becoming a designer, manifesting in the several delicate ballerina dresses used as underdresses. She ultimately admired the collection’s “simple and clean shapes.”

Reflecting on the environment of Shanghai during Fashion Week, Chen remarked that it “feels like a new city,” referring to the post-COVID nature and new rise of designers, creatives, and ideas within the city.

Over the years, Angel Chen has earned her reputation as one of Shanghai’s boldest designers, all while representing and inspiring the next generation of young Chinese creatives that hope to follow in her footsteps.

by ELAINA LI