How do you explain to a 6 year old child the facts of life and death? Well, you can do like Mitchell Bernal did and come up with adorable characters that just so happened to have “gone to the other side”. With its playful, dark humored designs and with distribution points in over 3,000 retail stores (including Hot Topic, Fred Segal and Tilly’s), Skelanimals has banked on making the dead a “must-have accessory” for the living.
Although the concept for Skelanimals was a comfort-mechanism for a young child whose gold fish had “met an untimely end” (as the Skelanimals Web site puts it), Skelanimals exploded onto the public eye. ChungKee, Dax and Diego are only 3 of the characters that make up the irresistible Skelanimals line and according to Cindy Bailey of Skelanimals, nearly 60 more characters are yet to come. With t-shirts, apparel targeted for men and women (children’s line coming soon) and now with accessories, school supplies, shoes, skateboards and you name it… Skelanimals is just as huge of a mogul as are the Olsen Twins and Hannah Montana (but on a much darker, emo-indie scale).
Vans Warped Tour
Evolving from more than a clothing or accessory line, Skelanimals has teamed up with the Vans Warped Tour and the Peta2 (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) organization thus making Skelanimals a form of lifestyle. Skelanimals is supporting the music scene by participating this year as a Warped Tour sponsor where they will be hosting daily signings from bands such as As I Lay Dying, Alesana, Automatic Loveletter and others. Not only that, but Skelanimals is also giving away free merchandise during the tour.
Peta2
And jumping from the music scene to the “love life and everything living” scene, Skelanimals joined forces with Peta2 and helped the organization reach their “100,000 Strong Against Fur” petition, which is to date one of the most successful promotions in the history of Peta2. A special “Fur is Dead” t-shirt design was created in order to help promote the campaign which has resulted in more than 120,000 signatures… and counting.
Cool trends with a good cause behind them are always a fashion plus! And at reasonable prices like the $20 “Fur is Dead” Peta2 t-shirt, it’s no wonder why people have responded so positively to this product. Skelanimals has proven that not only can dead animals be cute, but you can also be cool by letting these dead animals be about the only dead animal in your wardrobe.
