GHOST GiRL GOODS wants to focus this year on things that we love. We want to share good vibes (as usual haha) with everyone and focus on getting the daily joys out of life! We are bringing a new collection in May 2023 that we hope can be something people love! In the meantime, we will continue to share the stories of other local creatives and our adventures to upcoming events and cons!
This mini interview is with 2 brothers who have turned their love for streetwear and fandom into their own successful side hustle!
Chris and Mike Tung - Co-Founders of Pink City
I believe the first time I met the Tung brothers was either at a fashion show event being held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre OR a fashion show being held during Japan Festival. It was sometime in 2016, before GHOST GiRL GOODS was officially launched. But I remember it was during that time because I felt really excited to start learning about other people local to me who had their own brands! Ever since then, I've seen Pink City at many conventions and hosting various events throughout Toronto. (In the photo above is Chris holding the GHOST GiRL plushie that we gave as a raffle prize at one of their Pop Up Market events held at Freeplay Toronto!)
To start things off, when did Pink City start and when did things start to pick up?
"Pink City began back in 2014 when we both concluded that there was something missing in streetwear fashion. Having no experience in fashion or business, but filled with a ton of ideas, we just dove into it. We started our own brand from scratch, and slowly injected parts of our personalities into the vibe of Pink City, which is where a lot of the anime/gaming/geek inspiration comes from. Our idea was to combine the spirit of pop culture imagery with the edginess of street fashion and create apparel that sparks conversations. Things picked up in 2016 when notable creators like cosplayers Holly Wolf and Jessica Nigri, entertainer Lilly Singh, geek personality Meg Turney, DJ Grandtheft, Mica Burton, and Kreayshawn started rocking our designs. Around the same time, we began hosting events and convention after parties when we saw a lack of community in the Toronto geek scene, and they’ve been a huge part of what Pink City has built over the years."
I asked the Tung brothers what is their biggest dream for Pink City.
"One day, we hope to have the Pink City brand name recognized on a global scale. We’d love more opportunities for collaborations with big companies and creators that we admire, and the resources to become a larger platform for artists of every genre to create with us/each other and share their work on a global scale."
As always, I want to know what is an important aspect of fashion to the people we interview because, as many of us feel the same about fashion, sometimes we word it in a different way! "Fashion is a unique art form. Where other art forms, like music, or visual art, require venues or particular platforms to experience them, fashion becomes intertwined with an individual’s personal sense of self-expression. In that way, whatever someone wears essentially broadcasts an aspect of their creativity, and what inspires them. Through this, we find fashion to be an incredibly intimate, and profound form of representation where clothing almost becomes a billboard for the designers’ art, and a distinctive way for art to be shared."
I asked Chris and Mike what is their favourite fashion point for their personal style.
"We each have different personal styles, but in general, we love to wear loud outfits that turn heads and get people talking. Whether that is in the form of bold graphics, unique silhouettes, cool shoes, or coordinated colour themes, we like to switch things up depending on the context! Since we live in Toronto, we both also love wearing cool jackets/coats – whether that’s faux fur, full print, or techy/functional." (Photo featuring Mike, DJ Dan Drama, and Chris at their Love in Another Galaxy Party)
The brothers tell us that when they see random folks out on the street or get photos sent to them of people wearing their designs/gear, it makes them very proud. I can also agree, as it's so rewarding to see someone treasuring something you put so much time into!
"For someone to like something we’ve made that much that they want to wear it, is just such a flattering notion. Especially when those people end up being influencers or content creators we’ve looked up to for years."
Life gets busy when you have to manage working full time, but also want to pursue your dreams. I asked Mike and Chris how they manage their schedule and how they keep motivated when life gets busy or when they might feel less motivated.
"For those of you who don’t know, Pink City is a side hustle! Mike is a naturopathic doctor, and Chris is a full-time filmmaker who dabbles in the TTRPG realm. Over the years, there have been many moments of low motivation, work-life balance being off-kilter, etc. but at the end of the day, we find inspiration and joy in all the fulfillment Pink City gives us. The friendships we’ve made, the community we’ve built, the cool stuff we’ve created, all of it. Pink City serves as a way we can flex our creative muscles and do fun stuff with awesome people, which we wouldn’t be able to do with our day jobs. In that sense, Pink City is the thing that keeps us motivated and recharged to tackle the day-to-day."
Doing an official collaboration with Pokémon or Nintendo is a dream for Pink City!
"...or any huge anime or gaming company that we grew up with, would be a dream come true! We’re huge Transformers guys too."
Pink City has a collection of items themed around these iconic shows and games we all know and love~!
(Above are some of their older designs: Birth of Venus, Dragon Knight, World Six, Project V)
Pink city also has some really cool look books and videos for their collections! Here's their latest one for their "Inner Kid" capsule collection, filmed at Freeplay Toronto!
Pink City hosts a lot of local events that encourage other local creators to be part of ,or to simply enjoy a night of music, fun, and meeting new friends. (GHOST GiRL GOODS has even participated in a few of them!) I asked the brothers why community is important to them.
"For many reasons, community is one of the most important aspects of human experience. We are nothing without our community! When we first started going to conventions, we noticed that there were all of these awesome like-minded people who only ever saw each other at special events. And those just weren’t happening much at all. There was a huge void in the Toronto geek scene - rather than have everyone just see each other in passing for 5 minutes at a con, we would establish a space where people could actually hang out regularly. And so, the Pink City parties were born! Overtime, it feels like we’ve really established a tight knit community full of wonderful friendships, with artists and creators constantly uplifting each other and supporting local talent. It’s not about Pink City anymore, and it hasn’t been for a long time. It’s about the community at large, and the relationships we facilitate throughout."
Above is a photo from their event held in February at Off-World Bar, themed for Valentines Day!
Chris and Mike are always busy with all sorts of projects, but have started to focus a lot of their time on their newest podcast
"The pandemic shifted our priorities from apparel and event hosting into the TTRPG space. We now have a TTRPG podcast called Super Journey Dudes that recently premiered an awesome new mecha show called Blink Space Blues, which combines everything we love about anime, sci-fi, cyberpunk, D&D, etc.! Definitely worth checking out! www.youtube.com/@superjourneydudes. Though the apparel itself has taken a bit of a backseat since the pandemic, we’ve got some exciting collaborations and new styles coming for 2023/2024. We’re also hoping to attend more events outside of Toronto and look forward to where our connections take us!
Lastly, I asked Mike and Chris if they could design ANYTHING without limitation, what would it be?
It’s always been an interest of ours to design cool SHOES and SNEAKERS. We think we could create something really epic. It’s the one major accessory we have tons of thoughts on but not a clue how to make.
Thanks for your responses Chris and Mike! And thank you all for reading. Be sure to check out Pink City's social networks and like/follow, and check out our other blog posts on events we've attended, KAWAII INTERVIEWS, and more!