Michael Angel is Fit to Print

After taking a break from the backbreaking seasonal cycle for the past year and a half, Michael Angel is reentering the fashion conversation with a new capsule collection for Moda Operandi, which launches Monday. Known best for his innovative digital prints (that’s right, even before the likes of Mary Katrantzou and Peter Pilotto made photo-realistic patterns a must-have), Angel “felt stuck before taking the break. There was so much digital print around me, and I thought, Am I going to go nuts or am I going to evolve the medium?” he told Style. “I’ve been able to reexamine why I started designing in the first place, and that reason was to showcase my art, or print. Now I can focus on the prints—which can go on anything, not just clothes, really—and be more adventurous with them. I’m finally doing it for myself, the way I want to do it.”

Angel worked closely with Moda Operandi’s director of ready-to-wear, Indre Rockefeller (she also consulted with several other labels that will be rolling out trunk shows on the site later in the week, including Stella Jean, Del Toro, and La Petite Caravane), to get a sense of the M.O. customer. The new prints were inspired by the human-rights movements of the sixties and seventies, so Angel introduced a vibrant tartan check to capture the rebellious spirit, and mashed it up with kaleidoscopic florals, stained-glass windows, and a ruffle motif that had three-dimensional appeal. The patterns are showcased on straightforward silhouettes such as cap-sleeve shift dresses, curve-hugging pencil skirts, and on-trend strapless crop tops. The unexpected standout was a stark white column gown that was actually lined with one of the prints so it had a subtle opacity to it—just a hint of pattern. While the ready-to-wear will sell at a designer price point ($595 to $2,200), Angel is also debuting a line of printed T-shirts and scarves that will go for less than $250.

But what Angel is perhaps most excited about is an animated film he created in collaboration with Emrah Gonulkirmaz (above), who the designer stumbled upon while surfing Vimeo. “I wanted to reintroduce myself and take my medium to the next level. I’ve always wanted to see the prints move, and felt like Emrah really understood my message,” he said. Angel wants to keep exploring different opportunities with his prints, and hinted that he’d love to work with fashion houses on their patterns, and even transition into the fine-art world. “I am really into giant installation pieces. How cool would it be to wrap them in my prints?” With this new chapter in Angel’s career, anything is possible.

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