We recently connected with Ivan Lloyd Chung and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ivan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
All my life, I’ve been taking risks, small and big, fully aware that I could just smack up against a wall. Everything I worked so hard for could be over in a heartbeat. In the beginning, pursuing a job in fashion didn’t seem to be a big risk. What do I have to lose! But then there was the risk of opening my own store. I saw a space and decided to rent it before having a detailed plan on what the vibe should be or what product I would sell. There was a good energy in the two-storey building with up to 30 artists. One street off the main beat in Toronto, Canada (where I’m originally from). I jumped in blindly, then spent days thinking about what I was going to sell. I started off with hand-painted t-shirts. And magically, they sold. My vision seemed to work. From there on, I slowly gained my confidence and took more risks: Refining my designs and risking that people wouldn’t understand my style. Fashion is such a high-risk enterprise, constantly trying to come up with new material, and designs, trying to appeal more followers.
Ivan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a fashion designer and style connaisseur, born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I kicked off my career as an 18-year-old entrepreneur in retail, owned several fashion stores on Queen Street West, then freelanced and worked on commission for a number of Canadian artists.
I relocated to the North Shore of Boston a few years ago and run a small fashion house in Beverly, MA. I call myself a “one-man-band”, offering beginning-to-end fashion services including custom designs, blockbuster fashion shows, photo shootings, behind the scenes tailoring, celebrity fittings and film industry work. I’m also an advocate for recycling everything – leave no waste!
My streetstyle clothing and accessories are high-quality and cutting-edge.
I believe that even high fashion should still be affordable. My goal is to provide the best quality, awesome designs at a reasonable price. I also aim to introduce new styles to people, something they haven’t seen before and that excites them.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that “wholesale” was the only answer to make money in fashion. When I started producing my own lines, other fashion labels had wholesaling on their mind. So they would have a label, have the designs, have a manufacturer produce their clothing, have several accounts that would buy their products to sell them in their stores. A little while later, the magical word “consignment” popped up, and stores would rather consign your clothing instead of purchasing it to sell. That was huge game changer and it kind of worked in my favor. I realized people were keen to wanting custom clothing, something especially made for them. I liked that better, it felt more authentic, and I still really enjoy working directly with the client.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
True appreciation and reaffirmation that I’m on the right path and what I create is unique. I know clothing is “just a material”, but it should be more relevant. I create my products to have a certain type of energy. Without me talking about the clothing, I would want people to feel the 20-50 hours of work I put into that piece. I hope that this reflects when people try my stuff on. They love the fabric, the cut, and think “nothing ever fit me that better!”. People deserve to have special items in their lives and I hope that my pieces can be that for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: ivanlchung.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwalkto/
Image Credits
Chris Dempsey, Bob Packert