Monika Chiang (born May 22, 1974) is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

and businesswoman based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Double Seven

Chiang founded the lounge Double Seven in New York City's meatpacking district with restaurateur Jeffrey Jah and David Rabin in the summer of 2005, and served as its managing partner. The restaurant's drink selection featured cocktails developed by Chiang that were covered by media outlets including

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', and the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

''. The restaurant moved locations in July 2007.

Fashion line

In 2011, Chiang began an eponymously named fashion collection, which included apparel, handbags, shoes, lingerie and jewellery. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' described the line as "an ode to romance in seaside pales". That year Chiang opened her first boutique in Los Angeles on Robertson Boulevard in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

. The official opening was on October 10, 2011, and was attended by film actresses and other celebrities. In November 2011 Chiang launched a

pop-up shop Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to catch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

in the

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

neighbourhood of New York City, near the intersection of Prince Street and

West Broadway West Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by Tribeca Park. The northern part begins at Tribeca Park, near the intersection of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), Walker Street a ...

. Chiang presented her first full collection as part of the Fall 2012 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center in New York City on February 10, 2012. That same month her designs were featured in ''

Vogue Magazine ''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogue ...

''. Chiang next opened a flagship store in New York's SoHo district in April 2012. In June 2012 ''

Marie Claire magazine ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'' called Chiang "one to watch" after her first year of designing. On September 6, 2012, Chiang presented her first spring line as a part of Spring 2013 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, with a show at The Box at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. The full line was covered by publications including ''

Forbes Magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also repo ...

'', and ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

''. On December 4, 2012, Chiang's New York boutique was featured on the television show ''

Million Dollar Decorators ''Million Dollar Decorators'' is an American reality television series that premiered May 31, 2011, on Bravo. ''Million Dollar Decorators'' follows interior designers — Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Kathryn Ireland, Jeffrey Alan Marks, and Mary ...

'', showing the redesign of Chiang's store provided by interior designer Mary McDonald. In 2013 Chiang showed her second fall/winter line at New York Fashion Week. That year she was named by ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

'' as one of the world's 17 most promising accessories designers. Overall her style has been described by ''

'' as designs "which have a chic, rock-and-roll twist and fuse both masculine and feminine styles". She has stated that she only creates clothing that she would wear herself.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiang, Monika 1974 births Living people Online clothing retailers of the United States Companies based in New York City American fashion designers American women fashion designers American fashion designers of Chinese descent 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople