Diane Lutz and Megan Jacobson, the U.S. staff of Funny Fashion
By Ed Avis
Do you carry hippie costumes in your store? Or costumes specific to certain countries such as Scotland or Spain? Then you probably are familiar with Funny Fashion, an NCA Vendor Member located in Colorado Springs, Colorado that offers an extensive line of ‘60s fashions and country-specific outfits to name a few. But did you know that Funny Fashion USA, which is the U.S. branch of a company headquartered in Belgium, is essentially run by just two people?
That’s right. If you call their office, you’ll be pleased when a human answers the phone, and it will be either Diane Lutz or Megan Jacobson, the company’s two U.S. employees. Since they are the only employees, they handle nearly everything. Want to place an order? They’ll take it. Have a concern or problem? They’ll address it.
“We touch every facet of the business,” Diane said. “We place the orders, receive the orders, enter the orders, pack the orders, we are the quality control, we take the money, we follow up on questions, we do everything.”
European Ownership
Funny Fashion is co-owned by the Spaas family in Belgium and a businessman in the balloon line. The company is more than 60 years old; the U.S. office was established several decades ago by Hans Hisgen, who owned a line of luau, “Tropical Sun Imports,” after he met the Spaas family at a trade show. The balloon businessman bought into the company in 2018, when Hans retired. The office in Colorado Springs handles all sales for the United States.
“I make the majority of decisions locally, but the big decisions are made by the owners,” Diane explained to me when I visited their office in mid-November. She and Megan showed me around the office, which is packed floor to ceiling with cartons of costumes, accessories and balloons. They explained that Funny Fashion costumes are designed in Belgium and made at their factory in China.
“We do very well with hippie costumes, disco costumes, and accessories in general,” said Diane, who manages the U.S. office for the company. “Hippie, disco and clowns have been our top lines for the past ten to twelve years.”
They Understand Retail Challenges
In addition to the hippie line and the country line – kilts for Scotland, lederhosen for Germany, bullfighter hats for Spain, etc. – Funny Fashion offers a line of Renaissance-related costumes, which are perfect for reenactors.
The Renaissance line is important to the company locally. The front space of Funny Fashion’s office/warehouse has been converted into a retail costume and party shop. Participants and attendees of the Colorado Renaissance Festival count on the store for many of their fashions and accessories. Diane and Megan opened the retail space when they moved to their current location three years ago since the only other local costume business had closed its doors. But Diane emphasizes that they don’t compete with their wholesale customers – they don’t sell online and if something sells out on the wholesale side, they take the store’s inventory to fulfill orders.
Having the retail business helps the women understand the challenges of NCA Buyer Members. For example, their retail business was up ten-fold this year over last year during Halloween, which means they had to constantly run between the front and back of their space.
“We were anxious about it getting any busier, because it’s just the two of us here,” Megan laughed. “We work well together and we somehow seem to always get things done.”
Balloons and Accessories
Funny Fashion also does a booming business in balloons. “Our biggest market is balloons now,” Diane said as she pointed to walls full of colorful balloons in the Colorado Springs office. Just like the costumes, Funny Fashion manufactures its own balloons line in its China factory.
The company also sells a wide range of accessories, ranging from crowns to boot covers to fake dynamite. But Funny Fashion does not make all their accessories – they are sourced from companies around the world.
“Otto Spaas, the grandson of the founder, visits different manufacturers around the world and decides what accessories to bring in,” Diane said. “They are from all over – Spain, Italy, China, Madagascar, Europe.”
Warehouse Workers
The supply chain crisis that has affected countless businesses also hit Funny Fashion to an extent, Diane said. Even though the company has its own factory in China, they faced the same challenges getting shipping containers as any company. Fortunately, enough containers made it through to fill the majority of Halloween orders.
As we were speaking, a truck pulled up to the business’ back door and needed to be unloaded. Megan hopped up to handle it. “When a container comes in, usually it’s just us unloading it,” Diane said. “We wear many hats, from the janitor to the marketing team to the accountants to the warehouse workers.”
Remember that the next time you need to order hippie clothes or other Funny Fashion goods. When you call the office, you’ll be speaking with someone who truly understands your needs and the company’s products, and she probably just unloaded a truckful of them.