Longfly’s creative mind speaks to everyone about Fandom fashion

Liz DeSilva of Longfly, C.Creactivate and Derek Baca, VP of Business Development And Merchandising, are the brains behind the picture A line of small bags that people see wearing Almost everywhere, From conventions to theme parks Grocery stores. The versatility and images used on their products – incl Licensed franchises such as Star WarsWonderfulAmblin, And strange things – It heralded a new era of fandom fashion that went beyond the black t-shirt with the logo slapped on it.

io9 recently caught up with the two at San Diego Comic-Con To talk about Loungefly Expansion as Part of the Funko family (still includes the world) before it Holiday releases.

Sabina Graves, io9: Loungefly is making a move with pop culture signature bags and a recent move with The Stitch Shop. Can you tell us more about what’s next for the company to make fandom fashionable and more inclusive?

Derek Baca: The biggest thing we’re going to do going forward is really transitioning from a dynamic company to a lifestyle company. Introducing Loungefly Apparel, Stitch Shoppe Apparel & STich SHop bags. We are going into more categories going forward. I would say generally. [with] Women’s bags, we go more unisex. So we’re going to take on the fandom of all things Funko fandom because we’re good at it.

Liz DeSilva: We want our fans to know the size and fit. So it’s very easy for them to just grab their sweater, grab their tee.grab their clothes –Easy purchase.

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Baka: When we first joined [Funko] Company A few years ago, inclusion was a very, very important part of Longfly’s brand overall. Now we have started a stitch shop and longfly clothing from small to 4x size [which] Plus it’s unisex with a 3X fit.

DeSilva: it was Being in Disneyland and having the fans come and look like that is the saddest thing for meI like your little purses, but they don’t fit me.” And I’m likeThis is unacceptable.” right? So the first thing we did was sit down with the product design, all of our Crossbody bags and small bags length. They must agree with everyone; We are not making mini bags for a small group. We want our mini bags for everyone. So we made an adjustment. And I think one of the main things we’ve done is make all of our products inclusive. We have to make sure that our bags suit all our customers. So it is very important, we will not They want no one to feel left out.

io9: After being part of Funko and now with Mondo, can you talk a little bit about the partnerships down the road – will the tie-up have an impact moving forward?

Liz DeSilva: So apparently, Mondo has been a member of the family for about five years Full minutes and we’re really excited because they’re obviously uber creative. We have been fans of Mondo since long before this purchase. Let’s meet with them and see where it makes sense. Like, merge our teams and do some cool stuff. So while we don’t have much to share right now, I think you’ll see something like us in the future like Pop Loungefly bags, where we use Funko artwork and bring the Funko and Loungefly styles together.

Baka: We partner with Funko and do exclusive P.Ops that go with bags. TThe tube is very rare because there are usually only 3,000 About 4,000 rooms, pops usually have many more rooms. So those are always like the first ones.

io9: That’s great because lifestyle things are expanding from devices and into clothing. Are we thinking about home decoration too?

Baka: Here we go with some blankets. They beat us. in beverages, such as, Cups.

DeSilva: You’ll start seeing some new accessory categories this fall that you don’t normally see on Longfly. We are branching out and doing some. loungefly.com More than a bag or a bag – we’re more than happy to.

io9: How did your first fans influence your career?

Baka: My last name is Baka, I am a grown man. I’ve been called Chewbacca since I was little. in order to Star Wars–AAnd it got me big into comic books. I was a typical kid who grew up on television. So all Saturday morning cartoons, He-man, Thundercats, GI Joe, all that stuff. I was a part of it. Entertainment industry for almost 25 years. So I got into rave music, bright neon colors, all that fashion. I grew up in Utah driving to Melrose to go to the Red Balls and get all the rave gear. I walk into a retail store and the owner of the company literally goes, “I like the way you look. You should work here.” And so I became a buyer for that company. And then I went and moved on to hot topics. I kind of got into it, but fandom was always something I loved. You don’t want to see ours. at home [Baca and DeSilva are partners]Our house is scary – it’s literally a museum. We really stimulate each other because we collect everything. It’s part of what we do as a lifestyle and so it’s easy for us to translate it into products.

DeSilva: So for me, I grew up a huge Disney princess fone; Snow White and Cinderella was to my daughters—[but I also had an] Obsessed with Disney, not just princesses. And I’ve always loved picture books. When I graduated art school, I wanted to be a children’s book illustrator. I wanted to have my own story, my own characters. So I started working as a graphic artist for girls’ clothing companies, creating characters for their t-shirts and dresses. I fell in love with the clothing industry.

I went back to night school to learn more about sewing and textiles and fashion illustration. And I think it was that fairytale first love and “happily ever after” season that inspired me to want to do that. I say relative. Me as a creator and kind of being who I am Lisa Frank [and the] She created a wonderful, colorful world-This beautiful, immersive world she created really inspired a lot of my original art. So I was able to take my love of character modeling and translate those stories into clothes for all the people who love them.

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