TruffleShuffle’s Aby Sollitt-Davis on fandom, exclusives and telling stories through product

Aby, thanks for taking time out to chat! Firstly, for any readers who aren’t familiar with Truffleshuffle, can you remind us of the company’s history and ethos.
We are a proudly independent team of Eighties and Nineties geeks whose old-school obsessions keep us creating quirky, cool and nostalgic clothing and accessories. This year we celebrate 20 years of staying true to our core values and proud team.

You are very focused on pop culture and shining a light on retro properties. How do you decide what brands to focus on?
We have two starting points… One is starting with what we love and what we’re currently obsessed with. We know that if we love it, you’ll love it too.

The second starting point is what the fans are talking about. Whether this is due to a new movie release, a viral moment or requests in our DMs. We re-watch the movie or backdated series links, and tap into those epic scenes, quotes, songs and moments. Then our design team works their magic bringing this to life, always honing back to how that epic moment made us feel.

I know you run a ‘mixed economy’ where you develop your own products and buy in others. How do you manage the two product streams?
The two go hand in hand. We are very realistic about what we can and cannot make ourselves. We can make clothing and make them well. We only produce what we know we can sell, which is key for our eco footprint. We recycle and re-purpose fabric off cuts – most recently using excess fabric to make hair scrunchies, which have proven very popular! One to match your beloved dress, but also using the same fan-bulous print to make product for various price brackets.

“Brands from the noughties to 2015 are becoming new fan favourites, with a fresh nostalgic pull.”

Homeware, lighting, jewellery and games have higher minimum order quantities than we can comfortably sell through currently. So we work with a select few brands who specialise in these areas, who we trust to make great quality and considered products that sit alongside our clothing. Our team of buyers and designers pair these with the clothing we have designed to create mini collections that tell a story and build a look for a particular movie, show or game.

Smart. Now, thinking about 2023, what were some of the bestsellers for you?
Nightwear and t-shirts are our best-selling categories. 2023 marked the year that Halloween was an all-year round look for our customers. Staying true to giving our customers what they want, we will be making more and releasing earlier Halloween-themed clothing.}

On that, can you give us some insight to the design process behind your ranges?
As an independent brand we have fun with it. We experiment and throw lots of ideas around. Remembering to focus on bringing customers something they cannot get elsewhere. Homing in on key moments within a movie or our favourite characters, we work closely with our licensors to extract those ‘less seen’ moments, diving into the treasure trove of asset imagery. Our products team is made up of people with varying skill-sets; pooling these brings the unique designs to life.

I noticed that recently you have been selling Truffleshuffle products in HMV. Can you tell us more about this move?
This has been in the pipeline for some time; we were just waiting for the perfect moment for TruffleShuffle and for HMV. They are a fantastic brand to be partnered with, made up of a friendly team who are fellow retro geeks like us. We love being stocked in HMV shops across Europe. This allows our existing customers to see and feel items before they buy, plus provides us with exposure to a new customer base.

I also saw that you developed an exclusive product with Loungefly featuring the Labyrinth brand. Can you talk us through this and the role of ‘exclusives’ in your business?
Exclusives are very important to us. As the licensed merch market becomes more and more saturated, exclusives are an essential vehicle to make things special; items we can all cherish, find joy in and see the value in.

“2023 marked the year that Halloween was an all-year round look for our customers.”

This was our second exclusive collaboration with Loungefly, first being our Cinderella Castle Mini Backpack – both have been stonking successes! We have a trusted Loungefly community with whom we are in regular communication with. And as we are all about giving the fans what they want – what they really really want – we had to follow our Disney Backpack with a Labyrinth Worm Mini Backpack.

We have been designing and selling Labyrinth merch for over 10 years and are huge fans of the Jim Henson portfolio. The Labyrinth worm is our favourite character; it’s a privilege to spend time designing with such a fun, light-hearted little dude.

When brand owners pitch to you, what do you need to know about their brand? What makes a good pitch?
What does that brand mean to us and our customer base. We are lucky to have a mixture of interests within our team and there is always someone who is a fan of a new brand. Brands from the noughties to 2015 are becoming new fan favourites, with a fresh nostalgic pull. A good pitch for these would provide flexibility for us a brand retailer. Flexibility with sampling, branding, marketing, and asset customisation – with a streamline administration process.

Good answer! Finally, thinking ahead to your 30th anniversary in 2034, what brands do you think Truffleshuffle will be stocking?
Luckily, our business is all about what’s retro. So maybe Minecraft will be retro by 2034…

There’s a thought! Thanks again Aby.