Meet Chelsea Ma of Female-Founded Streetwear Label TAKEON

Chelsea Ma is the founder of TAKEON and pretty much an all-around boss. Realizing a major gap in the streetwear market, Ma took it into her own hands to create a line that women were actually looking for and would want to wear. Combining her knowledge of fashion design and digital content with great taste and ambition, TAKEON was born — and it’s safe to say we’re obsessed! She’s certainly one to watch on the streetwear scene. Read on to learn more about her journey and what’s next for the label.

Tell us about TAKEON! What sparked the idea?

I started TAKEON around 3 years ago. I’ve always grown up surrounded by fashion influences and learned how the manufacturing business functioned at a young age. I grew up seeing how brands were made and manufactured and it was always a dream of mine to start one. I went to school at Parsons for Fashion design and in my 2nd-3rd year my cousin and I started talking about starting a brand that would use what we knew and bridge problems that we saw in the system. Thus came TAKEON. While starting TAKEON we saw that there was a gap in the women’s streetwear industry. Back in 2017, there were only a handful of brands showcasing and selling styles for women in streetwear. This is what continued to push our belief and DNA into TAKEON.

How did you know it was the right time to launch?

We didn’t really know that it was the right time, I would say we really believed in our philosophy in TAKEON and knew that it would take a lot of groundwork to build up, so why not start earlier than later.

Streetwear has, of course, been rapidly gaining traction over the last few years — what impact to do hope TAKEON will have on where the industry goes next?

Streetwear has its heights over the past few years, we’ve seen tremendous growth in the industry for both men and women streetwear designers. My hope for TAKEON is that we can continue to build a community around women in streetwear and really bridge the streetwear and womenswear community together. My hope is to open up a store within the next 2 years in the Lower East Side and to make it a spot where women creators, photographers, streetwear enthusiast can all chill and connect over clothes and coffee.

Sustainability is another important pillar of your company values, and this can be hard to implement for young brands. How did you make it happen?

Since we manufacture everything in house, we decided to redo apart of our factory to be a “studio” factory. What that means is everything from cut and sew is done within our team on the same floor. We make sure that the fabrics we choose are ethically sourced and some fabrics also are up cycled from different materials. Not everything we do is sustainable but we try our best to make sure when we can be sustainable, we do.

Growing up, were you always interested in fashion? Or what drew you to the fashion industry?

I think my first dream as a kid was always to become a fashion designer. My family’s business is in the fashion manufacturing industry so it was really natural for me to learn and be to want to be in the fashion industry. I think something that really solidified my decision to go into fashion was seeing that there was space to improve the manufacturing part and also more representation for women in streetwear.

Can you tell us a bit about your career before TAKEON?

Before TAKEON, I was still a student at Parsons the New School for Fashion Design. I was interning and working at Jason Wu as a social media coordinator for 2 years, and then went on to Marissa Webb and Revolve China to work on digital marketing and social media. Working at these jobs gave me a better understanding of how important social media and digital presence is to have early on.

We have a lot of young people out there applying for their first jobs, what can applicants be doing to stand out, especially right now, to showcase they’re the best fit for a role?

I cannot stress how important it is to apply apply apply and be READY. I’ve had a lot of people tell me that they think “they have to wait because their portfolio is not ready” or “they need to add a few more things to it”. That’s the thing, your portfolio will never be perfect and you will always want to add more things to it. The key thing is to be ready and shoot your shot when you can. Your chance of getting a job right now may have passed you last week when you said you weren’t ready because you had to fix something on your resume but the person who was ready got it instead. Be ready and apply to as many places as possible. Its ok if you get a no as an answer, I got 30+ no’s just to land my first internship. Confidence shows through your resume and portfolio and the key to nailing and interview is always offer them more than what they expect you to do. Bring something new to the table, and study how a brand runs and functions and see what you can help them do that’s new.

Do you remember what you wore to your first interview?

I do remember my first interview. My first interview I had prepared two portfolios just in case. One was fashion (which what I was applying for, a fashion design internship) which I knew I wasn’t the strongest at that moment, and the other portfolio I prepared my social media portfolio (which I knew I was strong at). I went into the interview and they went over my designs and I could see they were bored and not too interested, they barely asked questions. I then pulled out my social media portfolio and showed them that I could also help with their digital marketing. This lit a spark in the interviewer’s eyes and that night they offered me a position at the company that had nothing to do with what I intended to apply for. Exactly my point with be ready, you never what your employer may need or what you can offer.

What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue a similar path?

My advice for anyone trying to pursue their passion in the fashion industry is work hard, but think outside of the box. Anyone can start a brand now with a few hundred dollars. Anyone can put a box logo on a t-shirt and sell 100+ units on Instagram and TikTok. But something that will set you apart is your foundation and your long term goal. A lot of students and young entrepreneurs want to see success overnight. That doesn’t happen. Brands take time, quality takes time, and building your foundation is most important. Once you lay down a firm foundation you will realize that it will prep you for the rest of your carrier down the road.

Given our current situation, what are you doing to stay sane, inspired and creating?

I think COVID-19 has given me a chance to slow down and to really connect and communicate with people I hadn’t already. Although a lot of us are at home, I think it’s given me a chance to really step out of my comfort zone and to create with what we have and what the situation is now.