We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kai Matsukuma a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kai thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Growing up I was always curious about the world and what it offered. When I got out of class in middle and high school I would jump on the train with friends and venture all around LA. Typically, we loved going to different malls / shopping areas (Santa Anita, Paseo, Beverly Center, Fairfax, and Melrose) to find cool new brands. As we explored I realized I loved being inspired by the city and the people chasing their passions. Then during/after college, there’s that big question – what is my purpose? As I was on that search I caught myself getting inspiration from watching documentaries and reading biographies of role models I looked up to. Then I realized something important. It inspired me in finding my own truth.

Once I decided to start a clothing brand and the concept of Sango I knew it was something special. It just felt right. I finally found my truth.

We love designing our own garments under the brand collection however what we really love doing is our artist collections. In our artist collections we find artists that we genuinely connect with and tell their stories by writing an article, producing a documentary, designing garments together, and hosting an event to showcase everything we’ve created together. As our audience stays engaged with the artists’ stories, we hope to provide inspiration to help find their own truth.

The most beautiful thing about this journey is being able to connect with the people I am meant to be connected with. I’ve created a lot of new friendships I am forever thankful for.

Kai, 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 never had any education, background, or connections before stepping into the fashion industry. The experience I had was working at creative advertising agencies managing brand/product campaigns for Google, YouTube, Netflix, HBO, Logitech, BMW, and others. Working with different brands at multiple creative agencies was beneficial in helping me understand the power of branding and storytelling. After working with so many successful brands it inspired me to create one of my own.

In order to learn design I was always paying attention to the garments I liked and doing research online and in stores. Then I kept practicing by drawing as many designs as I could and when I was happy with them I would get the garments manufactured. However, it took time to understand my design values which are longevity, functionality, and comfortability. Being resilient is what I am most proud of. No matter how bad my samples would come out, I would keep improving them until they came out perfect. I never gave up and just kept on going.

I believe as I keep pouring my heart into this brand and continue to love what I create, everything will fall into place. It’s a special feeling  of freedom being able to create the things that are authentic to my story.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Finding a manufacturer is not hard, especially with the internet. However, finding the best one is. It took me a lot of trial and error to find the right manufacturer for my designs. I went through about 7-8 constructors to find the perfect one who could deliver on all my needs. Being patient with the process and strict on my values were the most important things in finding the perfect fit.

When it comes to working with manufacturers, especially overseas I had to learn how to be very straightforward and make all my designs easy to understand, no matter how complicated they were. I never went to school for design so I just created my tech pack based on what made sense to me, and so far it’s working out. However, there are a lot of resources out there online to help you make your tech pack.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Initially to start Sango I used money from my savings to fund the first designs and then as it grew I would reinvest the money that I made from sales into the business. However, I was also working a typical 9-5 job and would use my income to keep funding more designs since it can get costly to manufacture multiple cut and sew garments. Then once sales were consistent the business was able to keep funding itself. Fortunately, I was able to leave my job after a year and pour all my heart and soul into the brand. This was when my brand was really able to grow since I was able to dedicate much more time into the thing I really loved. I am definitely a tunnel vision type of person. When I care about something so much I only focus on that and make it work one way or another.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sangolosangeles.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sangolosangeles/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sangolosangeles
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsl_KXEs4VEHo3iYac3ZU8A

Image Credits
Abel Membreno @thecreativeabe
Kai Matsukuma