Today's post is something of a first for The Totality - it's the first fashion post we've posted that goes beyond men's and women's style and deals, instead, with pet's clothing. Moe by Kang is a business created by Constance Kang which is currently raising funds via Kickstarter to take the project to the next level. Constance kindly took the time to answer the questions I put to her and, in the process, discussed deeper moral and philosophical issues. In Part 1, below, Constance explains how she ended up dropping out of law school to pursue her dreams and her plans for Moe by Kang. Part 2 of our chat goes live tomorrow.

   One of the first things that should be noted about Moe by Kang is how unspeakably adorable the designs are – what inspired these looks?

   I get inspirations from everyday life, from art, also from humanity and philosophy. I always consider clothes as “mixture of thoughts” instead of combination of fabrics. Hence, I constantly question myself: ”How can I utilize my knowledge in liberal art and create something reflects humanity?” In addition to that, I get inspiration from my environment. I am from New York, a city where fashion is part of the culture, so I believe in fashion as a life attitude. This is why I constantly add the element “attitude” into my designs— which results these beautiful pet clothes. 


   Without a formal educational background in design, making a leap into creating a whole new range of fashion items, particularly in a field such as for pets, must have been quite a bold move – you also left behind a career in law to pursue this. What made you decide on such a drastic career change?

   I have a clear life goal: contribute to human civilization and create some positive impacts. I am the kind of person who would trace my dream regardless obstacles. Therefore to me, if I cannot create something meaningful, a stable job with a comfortable life is meaningless. I do not want to be the kind of person who stays in a comfortable office doing programmed mechanic works. I love doing creative jobs and challenge myself. Because life is not about discovering yourself, it’s about creating yourself. 


   Moe by Kang has some really high minded ideas – you’d like to create “real fashion” the type of which can be seen in Vogue, Elle or Bazaar but for animals. How do you aim to achieve this and do you think that your clothing can bring about a difference in the way people approach clothing for pets?

   My philosophy is: either don’t do the work, or do the best work. If I cannot give value to this project, I am just profiting like average businessman. But I am not a businessman; I am a creative entrepreneur, so I decide to “do the best work”. I would achieve this goal by creating a different culture, just like how Steve Jobs created Apple, starting from a vision. I hope ten or twenty years from now, people all around the world, will have a different opinion about pets clothing. 


   You’ve mentioned that the project got you thinking about larger questions. One point of interest was your pondering about whether fashion should only apply for humans. There are many people who believe that pets should not be dressed up at all – have you met any moral objections of this kind? If so, how would you respond?

   I agree with people’s opinion that “pets should not be dressed.” But this statement is not always true depends on the situation. I mean overall, even humans “should not be dressed”. Because naked body reflects natural beauty of humanity, if we can go back to our old civilization, I will also appreciate it. However, the addition of fashion clothes does not adulterate the pure spirit of life. A great piece of cloth does not only reflect the spirit of life, but can also represent the identity of a life. I will definitely not enforce an “I am a Bitch” t-shirt on my dog. But a clean-cut, simple but refined piece of garment that contains value? People might need to rethink the possibility.