Entrepreneur Lindsay Jang to Unveil Missbish Apparel

HONG KONG — If Alexander Wang and Glossier had a baby, you would end up with Missbish. At least that’s what cofounder Lindsay Jang hopes. The serial entrepreneur who has launched Japanese restaurants Yardbird and Ronin is now turning her attention to the fashion world, gearing up to launch her first apparel line on Jan. 23rd.

The Canadian but Hong Kong-based businesswoman first founded Missbish three years ago with two friends, purely as an editorial platform, drawing inspiration by the success of Emily Weiss’ venture in cosmetics with Into the Gloss.

The site, which describes itself as a women’s fashion, fitness and lifestyle magazine, carries a street sensibility and regularly runs updates on the latest sneakers, leading to comparisons with Hypebae, the female arm of Hypebeast. Coincidentally, the Hypebeast founding team also happens to be Canadian and Hong Kong-based, but Jang says the comparisons really end there.

“Our target muse is someone who is independent, really into building community and being open to doing good things and feeling good about themselves,” Jang said. “Ultimately, looking good but that being a result of the other positive things she’s doing in her life.”

Jang, whose own personal experiences were shaped by the skate world, shirks away from labels of ath-leisure or streetwear but acknowledges that there is more space for female voices in the booming sector.

“In general, it was a masculine energy behind the activities that spawned streetwear,” she said. “I think that trying to enter that market and be female-focused is one thing. We are not trying to come into quote unquote streetwear. We are just making clothes that we can’t find out there in a quality and construction that in my personal experience haven’t seen.

“It’s definitely athleticwear but has a lot of fashion aspect to it. It’s all black, it’s super flattering, it’s super functional and it’s high-quality product,” Jang added.

As an example, she mentions a bomber jacket that comes with an internal removable vest so that it can be draped casually over the shoulders but still gives the wearer functionality to use their arms.

“[Usually], you have to be careful or you can’t lift your arms up. We wanted to create that look but still have it fun to wear and not hinder your movement,” she said.

Missbish is gearing up for series A funding by early next year and Jang believes that in the long run, “the opportunities are endless for product.”

“From apparel to skin care to makeup to electronics to home goods. I just want to make sure we’re focused on everything we do and we aren’t spreading ourselves too thin, too soon,” she said.

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