Angela Sison of Conrado

Growing up, Angela Sison was always inspired by her grandfather’s worldly travels, and she learned the basic principles of style and design from spending time in her mother’s textile factory. They say you can’t choose your family, but we think this founder lucked out with her relatives.

Based in Martha’s Vineyard and named after her grandfather, Conrado was born out of Angela’s desire to address the problem of textile waste in the fashion industry, and to provide conscious consumers with pieces that could travel with them through the day and around the world. As a child in the Philippines, Angela was often at her mother’s factory, and as a creative kid she picked up on the artistic processes that were going on around her. She even learned to sew from some of the same artisans that she now works with to create Conrado pieces from deadstock fabric. Angela worked on the merchandising side of a few big-name brands, continuing to work on her own designs in her spare time. Testing the water, she sold pieces at a Martha’s Vineyard artisan market for a summer before officially running her own brand full-time.

MIC DROP: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

FULL NAME: Angela Sison

CITY: Martha’s Vineyard most of the year and Manila, Philippines for a part of winter.

COTTON OR LINEN? Linen when the weather’s cooperating.

HARDEST THING YOU’VE LEARNED ABOUT RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS? You can’t control everything.

DID CAROL BASKIN KILL HER HUSBAND? I’m on team yes-she-did.