Leeann Huang Is Making Joyful Clothes Rooted in Childhood Optimism

Fashion has been a constant in designer Leann Huang’s life. The Los Angeles-born and -based creative had early exposure to the craft thanks to her seamstress grandmother and (former) dancer mom who made her own costumes. As Huang tells it, “I was always around making stuff, and I’ve always been artistically inclined as well. When I got into art school, I knew I wanted to do fashion.”

Huang sharpened her hand for design at Central Saint Martins in London. While she recalls it as a “very difficult education” that favored a “tough-love” approach, the experience was also “very rewarding” and gave her “the right foundation” for her career.

“It’s more of an art school than a design school,” she reflects. “It focuses on defining and refining what makes you happy and turning that into really, really good clothes and fashion. But it also helped a lot, not only from the education standpoint, but also by teaching environmental skills and showing us what it’s like to work in the industry.”

The well-connected school’s network helped Huang land internships and temp gigs at JW Anderson, Chanel and Maison Margiela. She was prepared to dive head-first into the industry full-time after graduation, but then Covid-19 happened.

“All my career aspirations at that time went down the drain because everyone went into lockdown,” she says. “I was interviewing for jobs, but wasn’t getting anywhere because of the pandemic.”

So she moved back home, and re-evaluated her plan: She knew she still wanted to work in a corporate setting “to gain more experience and exposure before doing anything on [her] own.” It’s why she accepted a local art director position, followed by a job working on the embroidery and textiles team at Libertine. During this time, she was also selling her own designs online as a hobby.

What began as a casual side project that was “very satisfying and fulfilling,” quickly — but organically – turned into a demanding second job. “It grew so rapidly without me even touching it,” Huang explains. “It came to the point where I would have to be fulfilling orders the second I got home from work.”

In 2022, Huang recognized she was selling enough of her designs to leave her day job and work for herself full-time. That year, her eponymous brand was (officially) born.

She describes its ethos as “fantastical, fluffy and fun.”

“I want to create clothes that tap into that childhood sense of joy or that childhood sense of the future we had as children, very optimistic,” Huang says.

This takes shape through garments boasting novelty themes, playful prints, bold colors and innovative textures, inspired by early-childhood cartoons and films. Think: handbags printed with color-shifting graphics, skirts covered in lip motifs, holographic-esque Mary Janes and tees with large fruit-print patches. Pricing ranges from $86 to $775.

This jubilant creative approach stems from Huang’s desire to create joy: “I like the idea of people having fun. I just want everyone to have a very fun and happy life.” It also directly reflects Huang’s personal style, one that she describes as “colorful,” “bright” and “funky.”

But beyond the joyful designs, there’s a lot of intricacy that goes into the production process. Most notably, Leeann Huang has become known for its signature lenticular printed designs — ones that animate by changing colors or images as someone moves around in it.

“Many of my customers say a lot of my clothes are icebreakers because when people see it they’re like, ‘What is that?’ Or, ‘Oh my God, your T-shirt is so fun,'” she says. “Or because of the animated aspect of the clothing, you’re somewhat forced to dance and twirl to show it off. I like the fact that my clothes make people want to dance and move and be like, ‘look at this, look at that.’ A lot of the craft and intention is built into the clothes.”

There’s also the added layer of sustainability: Huang only produces in small batches and sources fabrics locally in L.A., including from a deadstock warehouse. “Because there’s a limited quantity of the fabric, I can only make a limited amount of stuff from it,” she explains. “I also only make what I know I can sell. I prefer working in smaller quantities, and I mainly sell by demand. I don’t want to just make stuff and have it sit somewhere and not be used.”

Most of the garments are designed and produced in-house by Huang and her sewer — with the help of two part-time assistants — save for a few lenticular printed pieces that are produced by “a guy near the beach.” As the brand grows, however, Huang has her sights on having these designs produced overseas in China.

Like with every emerging brand, especially small-batch ones, there’s always the question of how it plans to scale without compromising the quality or authenticity of its roots. For Huang, creative collaborations — spanning food, homeware and jewelry — have been an innovative way to grow visibility.

Pop-ups have also been an effective solution. She can build community, directly interact with customers and have an in-store presence in multiple cities, whilst still creating limited quantities and using sustainably sourced fabrics.

“We’ve almost doubled our sales this year just purely from doing pop-ups,” she shares. To date, the brand has conducted pop-ups in Seoul, L.A., New York and Tokyo. In the future, Huang has her sights set on a “pop-up world tour,” traveling “all over the world and building these really fun installations and presenting [her] art.”

Of course, building out the brand’s wholesale relationships also remains an area of priority for further growth. For Huang, small boutiques have become a big part of the equation.

“When people see things in person, it actually convinces them to buy it more,” she shares. “Getting into physical wholesale stores has been helpful, and I’ve been mainly working with small boutiques. So far they’ve been in L.A., some in Tokyo, and right now one in Spain and one in London.”

As for what Leeann Huang looks forward to in the future, it’s all about building community and challenging her creative limits. In addition to the creative collaborations, innovative pop-ups and intimate wholesale boutique relationships, the label has landed a museum exhibit placement and, this year, Huang was given the opportunity to try a hand at costume design.

“These major events have been the best milestones,” she says. “I need to be making stuff that actually fulfills me and makes me happy.”

Tune into the Fashionista Network to join the conversation with fashion and beauty industry leaders. Sign up here.

Source: Fashionista.com