Take a moment and think of the brand Loungefly. What did you come up with? A favorite backpack you wear every day, or the one you have on your wishlist? The Loungefly brand has become a popular way for fans to display their fandom, and we had the opportunity to interview Derrick Baca VP of Business and Liz De Silva about the origins and mission statement of the brand.
Fantha Tracks: You and Derrick are very much the face of the Loungefly brand, customers are very familiar with you from social media. Tell us a little about the history of the brand.
Loungefly: We started in 1998 with brands like Universal, Warner Brothers and Hello Kitty. We expanded overtime and have grown a lot over the past four years thanks to our relationship with Funko.
Fantha Tracks: Initially I think many people thought of Loungefly as being a female focused brand, but now you see everyone sporting the backpacks. Was that your intent all along?
Loungefly: Yes, we wanted to move towards a more unisex feel, and to be more size inclusive. Anyone who was collecting Loungefly prior to 2019 may have experienced some short straps and difficulty wearing all of the bags, so we wanted to make sure that there was a permanent adjustment and all of our straps so we were really able to offer a size to everyone. Going forward in the next year we have a lot of really exciting things coming that will be announcing, but it definitely is geared towards making sure that we’re serving a greater audience.
We’re also expanding to retailers with full size backpack at those retailers, especially this time of year where you see like all of the back-to-school backpacks. You’ll start seeing a lot of Loungefly in the retail stores that stock the larger size backpacks.
Fantha Tracks: You are definitely becoming a lifestyle brand, and social media seems to be a big part of that.
Loungefly: Yes, you see the Instagram videos of fans showing themselves walking around Disneyland for example, entire families including the Dad and the kids. I just love to see that the brand is resonating across generations, we love that and we want to continue to move in that direction.
Fantha Tracks: Let’s talk a little about how you pick specific lines to produce does it start with a personal passion? For example, The High Republic backpack that is debuting as a SDCC exclusive.
Loungefly: Yes. Derrick is a huge fan of The High Republic and so am I, and no one was making any merchandise at that time, so we reached out to them.
Fantha Tracks: The first bag based on Keeve Trennis is debuting here, but will be available to everyone correct?
Loungefly: Yes, It’s available on our website now.
Fantha Tracks: The look of your product is something that really stands out on the shelves. Tell me a bit about the selection of artists for the products.
Loungefly: We’re really picky when we hire. Loungefly is a family and everyone is extremely passionate about the work. I feel like the fans know if it’s authentic. I feel like a High Republic fan would know if the people behind the products didn’t know what they were doing. It feels authentic because we have artists and team members that are fans of everything.
We’ve got people that are obsessed with Pokémon and people that are obsessed with anime and Disney. When we’re choosing who’s going to work on the project it’s really important, I don’t let somebody work on the project if they haven’t seen the movie. I’ll be like stop, go watch it now. I want people to really see what the fans love about that property.
Fantha Tracks: Where do you guys pick the artist/designers from? Is there a way fans can know what specific artists designed what products?
Loungefly: Our social and marketing team has started to share that information. You will see our behind the bag series and video interviews where the artists talk about their experience creating the bags, and I think they can learn about them that way. On my personal socials I try to share. Some of them want to be shared more than others and some of them are private, but the ones that want to be shared as a brand we work to get them some promotion. We find artists everywhere. Here at the con tomorrow, we’re going to be spending some time in Artist Alley. I have seen art at Disneyland and tracked artists down and hired them.
I have met artists at Designer Con and hired them. Sometimes I scroll through Instagram and I see an amazing piece of art and I’ll track that person down. They might be in the Dominican Republic or are not available for full-time work, but I’ll do a contract job with them, so we’re super open to finding talent anywhere.
Fantha Tracks: It really feels like you’re both mind readers at times, you are very tied into what is popular and the passions of your fans. If the public did have a suggestion about a line, what is the best way for them to express that to you?
Loungefly: Reach out to our social team with suggestions and ideas. We read the comments all the time, so say you’re a Star Wars fan and they post about the newest bag and there’s a character we haven’t done, or a shirt that you think would be great. The comments on the post are the best way to connect with us.
We really try to give everybody what they’re searching for. Eventually will get to everyone. We are always open to non-traditional ideas and new collaborations.
Derrick and Liz were such a delight! Keep an eye on Loungefly socials for upcoming reveals from your favorite fandoms.
Thanks to our Fantha Tracks reporter @YogiKai for all the news from SDCC, and be sure to look back at the #FTSDCC hashtag for more from the show.
Loungefly: Star Wars: Star Wars: Loungefly Lenticular Mini Backpack: Stormtrooper @ ForbiddenPlanet.com – UK and Worldwide Cult Entertainment Megastore
