“Is that Chunks?” is a query that comes up in my life practically as soon as per week: after I catch the model’s technicolor claw clips in my mates’ hair, on cabinets at shops, or whereas scrolling by way of my Instagram feed. I even mindlessly discovered myself asking it whereas watching a Vogue Korea video that includes Jisoo from Blackpink. She confirmed off a black-and-white checkered hair accent, which simply so occurs to be Chunks’ best-selling product, and instructed the digicam, “I actually wished this, so I waited just a few weeks for it to be shipped from abroad. I’ve this in all colours.”
In lower than three years since its debut, Chunks — and its founder Tiffany Ju — has created a model that has turn out to be a world dialog piece, an object of need, and this decade’s North Star for modernizing the ‘90s claw clip development. Inevitably, it’s additionally spawned numerous copycats, however extra importantly, it’s made hair equipment enjoyable and contemporary once more.
By way of its cheeky, amorphous shapes and sudden colorways, Chunks is exhibiting folks learn how to categorical themselves in methods past daring make-up and vibrant dye jobs — all whereas proving you could ethically and sustainably produce merchandise in China. In 2021, Chunks even handed the million gross sales mark, founder Tiffany Ju shares with TZR.
Ju is aware of higher than anybody that imitation is the sincerest type of flattery. Earlier than the times of TikTok and Instagram, Ju created ombre-dyed tights that shortly went viral on Tumblr. Then, folks started ripping off the clear acetate sun shades she was making so aggressively that she now not seems like the thought was hers to start with. Not one to be discouraged, she says, “It simply means the issues I am doing are resonating with folks.”
On the finish of 2019, Ju started fascinated about what her subsequent huge factor can be, and Chunks began coming to fruition. Ju sat down with TZR from Chunks’ new warehouse in Seattle to share how she took the enterprise she began by herself from her basement to a workforce of 10 supplying the lovable clips and barrettes to main retailers, like City Outfitters, and a dozen totally different nations.
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On Conceptualizing Chunks
“In 2018, I [realized] Y2K and ’90s nostalgia had been going to be huge. I, personally, wore a whole lot of hair claws on the time, however I may by no means discover cute ones within the states. You’d should get the ugly plastic-y ones from CVS or Walgreens.
“So I noticed that hole, and every little thing about it made sense. Nobody else was actually doing it, and I already had some expertise manufacturing abroad with my earlier enterprise. The margins had been good, the turnaround; the worth level was nice. , I did not have a ton of cash to start out with, however the minimums had been actually low. Chunks simply checked all of the containers. In early 2019, round March or April, was after I formally launched with a handful of kinds from my home.”
On Choosing Its Memorable Title
“Once I began to temper board what Chunks can be like, a whole lot of my inspo photographs had been artists who made colourful chunks — like resin, melted plastic, or acrylic blocks with stripes in them. I all the time gravitated towards actually enjoyable colour combos and textures. The complete 12 months of 2018, I made a whole lot of actually brilliant textile artwork. So the title clearly got here very simply — I simply love colourful chunks of stuff.”
On Chunks Hitting Its Stride In 2020
“I feel I form of lucked out having a fairly good product for quarantine life. Nobody was getting haircuts, and every little thing was waist-up on Zoom. It was additionally a great worth level and one thing you possibly can simply ship to a buddy or a relative that you simply hadn’t seen shortly.
“The Checker Claw positively took on a lifetime of its personal and introduced in an enormous quantity of individuals. It hit a great candy spot of stylish [meets] impartial but additionally enjoyable and colourful. It was all these issues mixed, so from 2019 to 2020, our enterprise grew tenfold.”
On Chunks’ Recreation-Altering Manufacturing Course of
“[Plant fiber-based] acetate appeared just like the highest-quality, most sustainable materials for our clips. I’ve all the time been conscious of how wasteful trend might be. I went to trend college, and one thing that was all the time at the back of my thoughts was creating as responsibly as we are able to — particularly with plastics. Plastics are insane and never as renewable and even much less recyclable than we expect.
“Additionally coming from the maker world, there was all the time this disgrace round stuff made in China. As I developed the model, going to craft exhibits, and speaking to folks about it, it appeared to actually resonate that I used to be so upfront about Chunks being made in China. It is one thing all of us have a knee-jerk response to, however we’re not likely certain why. Our information will not be up to date.”
“Chinese language manufacturing is just not a monolith. We are attempting to make {that a} huge a part of what we stand for. We need to be actually clear about what we’re doing, the place we’re producing, and the way we’re producing. We’re not embarrassed about it. We’re pleased with the connection we’ve got with our producers as a result of they’re superior.
“We do a mix of custom-designed and inventory acetate with the producers, and so they splice all of it by hand. I design the precise claw. For the Checker Claw, I knew [the manufacturer] had this one acetate that was form of checker-y, nevertheless it was wonky and wavy. Initially, I began out with a barely totally different formed claw with their [original] sample. When that was doing very well, checker began getting actually huge. Then, I labored with our producer to make that checker excellent. As quickly as I received the sample in a great place, I up to date the form. A handful of months later, I began to see all of the copycats.”
On Understanding Chunks Was Extra Than A Fad
“Individuals would DM me to inform me they bumped into somebody within the elevator in, like, San Francisco, carrying Chunks, and [that] they had been carrying Chunks too. All of those bonding moments had been taking place, and I nonetheless hear these [types of stories] now. It’s such a cool on a regular basis second of discovering your folks and being introduced collectively by an object you’re carrying in your hair. Our social media supervisor and I be sure that we interact with everybody. I’ve had full-out, prolonged conversations with folks about issues in DMs.
“I’ve all the time been in trend and equipment, nevertheless it bothered me that they’re not significant sufficient. They’re frivolous issues to do, however Chunks actually does convey joyful moments into folks’s lives and helps them really feel seen. It evokes these factors of connection, and that is been actually significant to me.
On Seeing Chunks On Okay-Pop Stars
I’m Korean American, so it’s enjoyable to see Korean artists, like Jisoo, do some cool, loopy sh*t. Rising up, there was a really typical approach to be. There are nonetheless the physician and lawyer [career expectations], nevertheless it’s so wonderful to see folks doing bizarre shit. Koreans have come up to now economically. They aren’t in a battle anymore, so this era is so privileged. With privilege comes the permission to self-express and to be bizarre.”
On Chunks’ Subsequent Huge Launch
We’re growing hair combs proper now. However we actually need to keep on with hair equipment because it’s such a enjoyable area of interest to play in. Down the road, we’d develop to steel clips or totally different supplies if we are able to discover a sustainable approach to try this.
Additionally, we’ve got two collaborations developing. One is with this Seattle-based artist named Neon Saltwater. She does actually cool digital artwork and interiors. We’re additionally engaged on a collaboration with a Mexican jeweler primarily based in California named Georgina Treviño. She does a whole lot of “pierced” items [Think modern metal earrings adorned with old-school barbells and belly button rings], so we’re doing a line of pierced hair claws.
On Ju’s Dream Chunks Collaboration
Crocs! It could be enjoyable to do chunky little Jibbitz.
You may try Chunk’s present hair clip choice, which ranges from $5 to $24, on chunks.store. When you want some solutions to buy, listed here are a few of my favorites.