The Vine November 19, 2020 “In Shop Shape” Angela Sisson, BFA Fashion Design'2012 creates a new workshop and retail space at Vineyard Haven for her clothing line Conrado. https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/creatives-wantchange-to-encourage-black-students-in-fashion-1234648154/
Seated in her new workshop in Vineyard Haven, Angela Sison, fashion designer and owner of the popular sustainable clothing brand Conrado, looks around with a smile. Around her, racks of vibrant clothing line the walls of the small shop – on the right, a set of colorful jumpsuits hang neatly in a row, and on the left, a row of airy dresses form a blur of floral prints and polka dots. One month ago, the shop was a storage unit full of boxes and covered in dust, Angela said, but after some cleaning, redesigning and furnishing (with mostly recycled pieces), she has transformed the space into an open-concept workspace that will also double as Conrado’s new brick-and-mortar retail store. “My dream to have a bigger space is really to hold people,” said Angela, who has been based out of The Workshop Gallery, a collaborative studio space for Island artists, for almost a year. “I wanted to have my workshop here, but I wanted it to feel like a place where people could just hang out.”