Angelina works in textiles to create clothing and custom interiors. Her Ocelot clothing line was established in 1998, and has been exhibited in Museums and has sold nationally and internationally.
The line embodies the spirit of the ocelot, native to the central and south American continent. In the same spirit, these garments have traveled the world both in exhibits and on customers. Each has Angelina’s personal touch – intense yet comforting, vibrant and subdued- a compendium of opposites that has a unique balance which beckons to be worn.
Passionate about textiles and natural dyes, Angelina explores the infinite possibilities of itajime, an ancient, time-consuming Japanese dyeing technique.
The process involves folding fabric, placing wood blocks on both sides of the folded fabric, then binding or clamping the fabric into a bundle she immerses into a dye bath.
Repeated patterns emerge when DeAntonis unfolds the fabric, often wool or silk, although she also works in linen, hemp and cotton twill, all of them natural fibers.
It's a magical, three-day process she's perfected over a dozen years, developing "an intuitive communication" with the fabric she then crafts into a line of clothing from scarves to coats that's been exhibited worldwide - and at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum - worn by dance troupes and characters in the HBO series "Six Feet Under," as well as Joan Baez on her 2003 European American tour.
DeAntonis has built a following among Bay Area women who appreciate clothing that looks like nothing else on the market and lasts. Defying the popular wear 'n' toss model, she encourages people to collect pieces year after year because there's a constant sensibility that unifies each collection.
"I wear her clothes with pleasure," says Sharman Spector, co-owner of Britex, the Union Square fabric store, who first encountered DeAntonis at least 10 years ago at a juried Fort Mason craft show. "It's imaginative and grounded in beautiful art. She has a standard of excellence, and she sticks to it."
Spector still wears the first outfit she bought, and she enjoys telling those who ask when she's wearing a DeAntonis piece that it is from a San Francisco designer.
