Smashing Darling Blog

Where do we begin to tell you about Darling Angela Johnson? First and foremost you should head over to her Darling boutique, be forewarned, you just might find something you HAVE to own!

Angela is an award-winning indie designer, who handcrafts cutting edge avante garde apparel. She is not only a clothing designer, but a fashion design instructor, Arizona fashion industry leader, fashion business consultant and fashion show coordinator as well, and has over 13 years in the fashion industry.

Want to know more? Keep reading…

The Darlings: How did you get into fashion?
Angela: I went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in L.A. and majored in Fashion Design.  This wasn’t until after I had already earned a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from NAU. I made the drastic career change when I graduated from NAU and really didn’t know what I could do with my degree.  So, I decided to pursue the life long love I had of fashion. I didn’t pursue it right away out of high school because I didn’t realize there were so many opportunities in the industry and there wasn’t really anything going on in fashion in Arizona. No one had ever really talked to me about my interest in fashion or taken it seriously as a career choice for me and I hadn’t thought about moving to L.A. or NY…I’ve always loved it here in AZ.

The Darlings: When did you start your own line of clothing?
Angela: I went to FIDM and did their professional designation program which you can complete in one year if you already have a college degree.  When I had about one quarter left of school at FIDM, I went to their career development center and they helped me get a job as a cutter for my favorite clothing line, X-Large Manufacturing (a men’s line owned by Mike D. of the Beastie Boys) and X-Girl (a girl’s line under the same company which was owned by Kim Gordon of the band Sonic Youth).  I was able to move up quickly in the company to finally work in design and then eventually production.  I got a lot of knowledge and experience there and I used that to start my own line, in 1996, with an actress named Christie Clark from Days of Our Lives.  The line was called monkeywench. (We eventually sold internationally and our clothes were found on celebrities like Pam Anderson, Tommy Lee, Christina Applegate, Quentin Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio, to name a few. The clothing was featured on television shows like Jesse, Beverly Hills 90210, Soul Train in Japan, and could be found in the pages of magazines like Seventeen, Warp, Girl’s Life, and more.)

Then one day in 2001, I decided to move back to Arizona to take care of my grandfather and I had to let go of monkeywench because there was no way to produce clothing in AZ and there wasn’t much happening here. I came back and got a job teaching fashion classes at local schools and I started to create designs for students for dances and such. Then more and more people started to order my clothing and I started to meet some influential people who would introduce my designs to the local museums.  I got involved in doing fashion shows at the local museums and then my line started to take off from there.

The Darlings: Where do you turn for inspiration for your designs?
Angela: Popular culture, history, media, etc…
The Darlings: How do you market yourself and your label?
Angela: I get involved in a lot of indie designer related things.  For example, I try to get my line featured on a lot of websites that cater to undiscovered and hard to find clothing lines.  I also coordinate and participate in a lot of fashion shows and submit my products for contests online.  I also get a lot of local press because there aren’t many fashion designers in Arizona.

The Darlings: Tell us a bit about founding the Arizona Fashion Foundation and the work of the organization.
Angela: I started the organization because when I moved back to Arizona and started to get involved with local designer fashion shows, I met some other local designers and fashion industry professionals. I saw that there was no organization or directory service that could unite all of Arizona’s fashion professionals and I saw the need for something like that since everyone was asking me to put them in touch with other designers, seamstresses, models, etc. I started the organization to bring together everyone working in the Arizona fashion industry.  It had a good run and we were in business for over 3 years, but we ended up closing it down a few years ago because there were not enough people making money locally in the industry to financially support an organization like that and I couldn’t support it on my own dime any more.  I also got too busy with my clothing line and I had my second child and just didn’t have enough time in the day to run the organization as well.  It was sad when it closed down, but after we closed, there were many other organizations that popped up and now they are carrying the torch.

The Darlings: What is your next creative project?
Angela: I’m just trying to refine my line into solely reconstructed T-shirt gowns so I can specialize in it and make it my niche.

The Darlings: What does your average day entail?
Angela: My days are different every day because I also teach fashion classes and speak for FIDM.  So, during the average week, I’m could be teaching fashion classes, speaking at local high schools or sewing and designing my line. I also have two kids and a husband who need my attention and they are the most important things in my life. But, when I am actually working on my line, I’m usually sewing. Since all of my pieces are created from thrifted T-shirts, I have to sew each piece myself instead of having them mass produced. I have interns that help me, but it is a specialized process that differs from the way most clothing is made; it requires my hands on attention much more than if I were mass producing regular clothing.

The Darlings: Describe your personal style?
Angela: I like to dress very plain with a subtle pop of something out of the ordinary.  For example, I like to wear a plain outfit and accessorize with something that stands out.  Or if I wear a simple shirt, I’ll wear something unique on the bottom like ‘hammertime pants.’  But, most of the time you’ll find me in ‘Long and Lean’ tank tops from Target, skinny jeans or a plain black skirt/pant and the original Chuck Taylors from Converse.  I also have a love for all things vintage and I wear a lot of vintage dresses and sweaters.

The Darlings: After working in many different facets of the industry, from designing to teaching to event production…. What is your favorite?
Angela: I really like design the best and would do that full time if it paid enough.  But, teaching is so fun and so inspiring that I really enjoy it as well and wouldn’t mind having it as my full time job.  I like all of those things so much and that’s why I do them all instead of picking just one.

The Darlings: What’s your favorite piece of clothing?
Angela: I own every color of the ‘Long and Lean’ tank tops from Target and it’s just so simple, but I wear them nearly every day.  They fit me well and are so comfortable. When I dress up, I love to wear a stretch satin bubble dress from my 2007 line. It is so simple and you can wear it anywhere.  I also own a vintage dress from my Grandmother that I really love.  It’s a cream chiffon baby doll style dress with fur on the bust.  I’m totally against using fur in fashion, but it’s from the 1950’s and was my Grandmothers and is so beautiful.

The Darlings: What one word describes you most?
Angela: Hard-working.  I guess that’s two words.

The Darlings: What 3 things can’t you live without?
Angela: My family, my sewing machines and my laptop.

The Darlings: Is there anyone in the Smashing Darling community you have a question or comment for?
Angela: I think all of the people featured on Smashing Darling are so talented and I feel so honored to be included on the site with them.