Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bep. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bep, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

So Hadokoa actually came to being during the pandemic. I’d been a full time cosplayer and barista for awhile and with the nation shutting down I needed something to occupy my time and support me. It all started off with me making thousands (yes thousands) of face masks to donate to hospitals and doctors offices. I moved on to giving them to my neighborhood and eventually selling them online. Once I had a customer base for those I started making anime inspired masks and designing my own fabric for them. As demand lessened I decided to try my hand at other merch based on my favorite characters and now I have products completely custom cut and sewn from things I’ve drawn and designed.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a cosplayer and seamstress by trade with a BA in Art and Mass Media. Now I’m a digital artist and designer who makes anime inspired apparel and accessories. Things from keychains to beanies and now to custom button downs, crossbody bags, and techwear pieces. I’ve expanded a lot to include basic fashion pieces and techwear.
I’m the owner, social media manager, shipping department, and customer service

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Going to anime conventions and selling there has been huge for new clients finding my shop. I’ve also been lucky that I wear my products out and frequently get asked where I got them from which has helped me gain new eyes. I’ve done local markets as well to get a good name out in my own community

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I mostly just worked a lot. I was 40 hours a week as a barista spending my off days and my nights sewing for 12-13 hours a day to make sure I had the inventory I needed when I started out. From there it was a lot of preorders and working late to get what I needed to start making new things. I started small with a lot of things ordering 10-15 beanies at a time to be embroidered to now ordering 200+ every time I place an order

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.hadokoacontrast.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/Hadokoa.contrast
• Twitter: @hadokoacontrast

Image Credits
Purple button down shirt model is @nonbinate on Instagram