Quad Style: Andrew Chang
Hi, I’m Andrew! I’m a second year English major from Toronto and the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the MODA Blog. This year I designed for the MODA Show as part of the Designer Boot Camp Program, which was an amazing experience! When I’m not studying, editing articles for the Blog or bouncing very aggressively back and forth between classes, I’ll likely be drawing or taking photos.
I love wearing suits, but styling them to be more casual. Here, I’m wearing a sports coat and skinny trousers from H&M with a pair of adidas Stan Smith sneakers. I’ve paired the look with a t-shirt that my best friend and I found at a thrift shop in Toronto; we somehow managed to find two and whenever I wear it, I’m reminded of the wonderful times we’ve had together.
How would you describe your personal style?
Honestly, I’d say that I’m pretty basic. I have a sense of what works on my body and I’d say that most of my wardrobe is made up of items that can be easily mixed and matched together with one or two more eccentric statement pieces that I like to play with.
I like to wear pieces that are quite classic but with subversive touches, whether that’s an unexpected icon or a slightly off-kilter phrase. It makes me feel rebellious to play with people’s expectations about fashion; I enjoy watching the shock on people’s faces when they see that I’m wearing a Peppa Pig watch or that I have ‘Canadian as Fuck’ printed onto an otherwise plain white tee.
Where do you find style inspiration?
I get inspired by people with really bold fashion perspectives who can translate their eccentricity into something more accessible. I am obsessed with Ezra Miller right now as I find myself getting more and more interested in exploring androgyny and various subcultures and how they interact with mainstream fashion.
I’d say other inspirations are people like David Bowie, Michael Jackson and Elvis because they really understood how to push the boundaries of style and fashion to translate themselves as characters rather than just people wearing clothes. I admire a lot of stylists as well such as Grace Coddington, Katie Grand and Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele because they understand how to bring fashion to the level of fantasy.
For me, style is all about collecting, mixing and subverting garments to project the image of who you want to be; that kind of persona play excites me the most about the possibilities of fashion.
“For me, style is all about collecting, mixing and subverting garments to project the image of who you want to be”
For this look, I’m wearing a leather jacket from Forever21 with a pair of black jeans from H&M. The T-shirt is a gift from a friend who read my article on Peppa Pig’s growing influence on the streetwear scene and the ring and necklace are from Amazon.
“These virtual personas we craft through fashion are simply images of unspoken desires, fantasies and dreams.”
For this look, I’m wearing a T-shirt from Peace Collective, a Toronto based apparel brand that celebrates Canadian identity, a pair of blue jeans from H&M, a pair of Nike sneakers and a thrifted bowling jacket that I got from Black Market Thrift in Toronto. I got lucky and somehow found a black satin bomber with my name embroidered on it. I’m not sure who Andy is, but I’m glad that they decided to donate their championship bowling jacket to a thrift shop, because now I have it and I am obsessed with it.
Why is fashion important to you?
At the end of the day, fashion for me is about self expression, and I think internally, I understood that from quite a young age. I got really invested in fashion when I was in middle school and I was designing outfits for the characters in a comic book I was writing. I was always thinking about how different garments or different style choices translated into personality traits, desires, fears, and emotions; I wanted people to be able to understand a character through what they wore and how they wore it and I think unconsciously, those thoughts began to leave the pages of my sketchbook and enter my own life.
Fashion gives people the opportunity to design their own character, to be whoever they want to be that day, and to erase it all and start over again the next day. I think we’re so fortunate to live in a time and place where we can feel more free to express our identities or to project our ideal personas through fashion and hair and makeup.
I never thought of this process as deceptive or fake because in some ways, who we are and who we want to be are one and the same. Our projected selves or these virtual personas we craft through fashion are simply images of unspoken desires, fantasies and dreams. Years from now, I’m sure I’ll have a completely different perspective on fashion, but for the time being I’m just enjoying how it all makes me feel. There’s something so uplifting and empowering in choosing to dress a certain way and in choosing to be the person I want to be.
“I’m just enjoying how fashion makes me feel. There’s something so uplifting and empowering in choosing to dress a certain way and in choosing to be the person I want to be.”
