Page 6
October 3, 2018
Minority & Small Business Week
Designer Turns Skills into Business
Driven by
passion and
finding a niche
D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Angela Medlin, a seasoned
African-American female de-
signer with more than 25 years
experience working for big-
name companies like Nike,
Adidas, Levi Strauss, Eddie
Bauer and Northface, has trans-
formed her skill set to support
a passion for entrepreneurship
by launching two companies—
one to feature indoor dog ac-
cessories from the home mar-
ket and another to teach young
designers of color how to break
into the design industry.
Medlin, 50, told the Portland
Observer that her pet accesso-
ry brand, called House Dogge,
was started after she left her
own design director position at
Nike back in 2016. Her Func-
tional Apparel and Accessories
Studios is an educational pro-
gram which partners with two
other design labs, MLAB and
by
Pensol Footwear Academy, and
other former design directors at
Nike, to create a six month pro-
gram at the Pacific Northwest
College of Art.
Taking inspiration from
product designs across the
globe, House Dogge was in-
spired by the kind of purposeful
and sustainable products she’d
seen while traveling around the
world, in places like Japan.
After collecting products for
pets and putting them on a wall
in her home, she wasn’t quite
sure where the business was
headed. But soon she discov-
ered a niche in the market for
consumers who want dog toys
that were actually fashionable
within the home.
“I want to do something
that’s really personal to me and
close to my lifestyle. And so
what I did. I started looking at
dogs who live indoors and how
people live with dogs. And I re-
alized that that’s not being ad-
dressed in the industry in that
pet brand industry so much,”
Mendlin said.
Mendlin realized that stylish
dog toys that didn’t sully the
Web: www.sunlanlighting.com • E-mail: kay@lightlady.com
3901 N. Mississippi Ave. • Portland, OR 97227
503.281.0453 • Fax 503.281.3408
photo Courtesy
s Choolhouse e leCtriC C o
Portland-based designer Angela Medlin creates big-brand apparel for companies like Nike
and Adidas. The long time entrepreneur has launched two companies over her long career,
one is specializing on getting more diversity in the design field and the other an upscale
retail company selling dog accessories.
feng shui of their occupying made of leather and wool.
growth. Just a few weeks ago,
The
company
also
supports
house interior was a product
Mendlin attended her first trade
that she herself would want to the Pongo Fund, which pro- show in New York City, spon-
buy and decided to take a crack vides quality food and vital sored by the city’s economic
at creating and selling them veterinary care for the family development agency Prosper
pets of anyone in need.
herself.
Portland.
Mendlin was “heartbroken”
She’s enjoying an ever-ex-
Reflecting back on her ca-
panding number of retail- when herOlde English Bull- reer, Mendlin said being an
ers who sell her accessories, dogge, Wubbi, who is still the entrepreneur was a natural next
which include sustainable and face of the company on its step.
non-toxic products like vegeta- website, sadly passed away
“My work was never 9 to
just
a
couple
months
ago.
ble tanned leather tug toys, an
5, but you know, I can nev-
Still, her canine friend would
origami-inspired leather waste
C ontinueD on p age 8
bag pouch, and a comfort leash be proud to see the company’s