“It’s like a mission in A Video Game: and I got pretty far”
Exaggerated baggy silhouettes, bright color combos, and an abundance of unique glasses, chains, masks, and other eye-catching items. Huni is the personification of what you might call “main character vibes”. The brand is the brainchild of young German-based designer Mona Thomas. Armed with her cellphone, iMac, and a 3D printer, she is breaking the mold of what a fashion brand can be nowadays. If her pieces seem familiar to you, it's probably because you saw them in music videos by the likes of Ye, J. Balvin or in posts by Lil Nas X.
But of course her loyal followership transcends the realm of social media, as seen during the pop-up events she had during Paris Fashion week or in Berlin. Huge crowds were rigorously waiting in line to get the chance to snatch something from her collections, which are filled with seemingly carefully selected but subtle pop cultural references. But who cares if the amorph Huni Logo might be a homage to the iconic Aphex Twin Logo by Paul Nichols, or if a costume made mask for J. Balvin was inspired by Yuji Uekawa’s Sonic Adventure character design, or not. “What matters is if people like the design and not what the original inspiration might have been” says Mona while we are walking to her studio.
Lately, she had moved into her first office. From here she wants to grow gradually, at her own pace without any outside pressure. This is why she rejected lucrative sounding but restrictive offers from investors who helped build other highly successful brands. Because despite the early success in her career, Mona is the type of person who values creative freedom over everything else. “You're the first one to visit me in my brand-new office” – she says with a warm smile while opening the door to a spacious hall. It's like going through a portal: For a quick moment, you forget that you are located in a small suburb near Frankfurt, Germany, and step into a physical fashion mood board. Everything is stacked with archive pieces, unreleased prototypes of upcoming drops, and lots, lots of crazy accessories straight out of a character creation menu.
So each one of us grabbed some ice tea flavored juice box from the fridge and we sat down to talk about her creative journey.
Hello, Mona can you please introduce yourself to the Sabukaru network?
Well, I‘m not sure, but I like to describe myself as a designer. I started out with graphic design, even studied it – but never finished it. My goal was to work with the people who inspired me in the first place, but I never really knew how to get their attention. But through my Instagram account I found a way to showcase my own products, ideas and abilities.
You have been blowing up on IG and TikTok for your accessories, clothes and also shared some sneak peeks of some furniture designs. But how would you describe your brand to someone who has never heard about it, yet?
A mix of all sorts of things, from fictional products to real items. I don't even know how to describe it. Really, I really can't describe it to you. It's a weird mix of different things.
Huni is very playful in its whole aesthetic and in fact, toys, packaging design and fashion magazines were a crucial part of your early design education. Can you tell us about some of your core memories, when you were so amazed by a design that it inspired you to do creative work yourself?
Oh, definitely. I realized quite early during my childhood, that I wanted to create my own products. Funny enough I always thought you needed to be some kind of an inventor to do this kind of thing. Because I always thought, all these products that seemed cool to me, whether it's a board game or a pair of Nikes, were created by inventors and I wanted to do something like that, too. I just wanted to develop products – I just didn't have the right word for it back then.
Was there anything in particular that caught your attention?
Yes, mainly action figures from nineties cartoon series or movies. I liked the muscular superhero, „Action Man“ type of toys. I always saw them at Toys “R” Us and for some reason I wanted to have them. Especially because of the cool packaging designs.
You already had some of your very first Huni ideas during your time as a student. How would you rate the influence of HfG Offenbach, which has been an incubator for some of the most prolific German creatives for years now?
What I learned there didn't really influence me that much. What I was able to realize was that I couldn't actually learn anything there at all. This school makes perfect sense for a lot of people. But not for me. It‘s always a personal thing, I guess. That's why at some point it no longer mattered to me whether I graduated or not. Probably because I'm very introverted. You have to find another way to communicate and realize your ideas, somehow. It just took me a long time to realize that I'm just not the type of person who connects a lot. Many people find their creative family at these schools, but that didn't happen for me.
Speaking of family: a hidden champion of Huni is your sister, Marlene. You guys were already sneaking into Fashion Week events around Europe way back before Huni was a thing, to catch a glimpse of the industry? Could you explain your relationship and how this plays into each of your respective roles at Huni?
Oh yes, we have a very close relationship, so we can work together pretty well. We've always had the same interests. We like the same music, the same movies and we basically share the same brain, so we complement each other very well. I mainly take care of the creative part and she takes care of the project management. I see it as a gift that everything can be done within the family. My father's workshop also played an important part in my development. He builds models for architects. Sometimes we had to create models at school for arts and crafts projects and of course we went to my father's workshop. So we've always spent a lot of time there, because this has always been the place where we could realize our ideas from a young age.
That is interesting. Do you think that the materials that were already available in your dad’s workshop did have an influence on your aesthetic, especially the neon plexiglass? Because bright neon colors are a recurring design element at Huni?
Yes, that's true. The glasses were cut with a milling machine using plates that have been lying around in his workshop for years. These became the first prototypes of the glasses. I often think that maybe I wouldn't have gone in that neon style direction because I in fact like more muted colors, but it was also important to start with something loud. I don't think I could have “crashed the scene” with an unexciting product? That probably wouldn't have worked.
Aside from the glasses, another reason why Huni gained such a devoted fan base was because of the now infamous pullovers and hoodies, but only a few know that the silhouette is actually inspired by a design from AKIRA, right? Can you walk us through the creation process and how it evolved?
Exactly. I always get inspired by things that I like. What I personally was missing were sweater cuts that were oversized, like in 80s cartoons or anime. Generally everything that came from that era, like the clothes my parents used to wear. I always asked myself, why do they look so cool and this has become the base for a lot of my pieces.
Regarding creative processes: you also worked on projects for people like Joe Perez, Lil Nas X, or J. Balvin. How do you approach these kinds of jobs?
That‘s exactly what I always wanted to do. I originally just wanted to do all this so I could work for people I thought were cool. As sad as it sounds, I never dreamed of having my own brand and thought it was unrealistic. That‘s why my goal was to work for others. And now I think it‘s cool that I have the freedom to do both, which I didn‘t have before because I was also tied up with doing logo design jobs. Now I have the time to work on these kinds of freelance projects. I do them because I get great, unforgettable experiences. E.g. something like: I‘m going to Italy for a weekend and having a good time with the Lil Nas X team. That‘s actually the greatest thing for me, just having fun and being creative.
If we look at other examples in the fashion industry, brands are banking on the personalities behind the designs and their extended “world building” which has become a key factor for success. How much do you think your online persona matters in your personal success story, and why?
At first I thought it wasn‘t that important at all. But the more I did what I enjoyed, the more I realized how important external communication really is. Of course, you can do a lot of things on your own, but you definitely shouldn‘t underestimate the support of your community and the motivational drive you get in return. I mean, I couldn‘t finance all of this on my own if I didn‘t sell anything. Ultimately, it all comes down to the question “What do you do to sell a product?” Of course it‘s also a super capitalistic idea. So I often ask myself what do I expect from a creative person these days, or what kind of people am I interested in, or what brands? A faceless brand without a story seems boring and inauthentic, so this is why storytelling definitely plays an important part. I‘m usually very reserved, so I kept a lot of my personality and private life to myself, at the beginning. However, over time, I realized how important it is to show the world who you are, because you should be proud of yourself.
Key visual for the canceled Huni and XBox collab
Key visual for the canceled Huni and XBox collab: the controller morphed into the Huni logo
You’re also very vocal about the treatment of female creatives in the design sphere. Just recently, there was an interesting incident involving you and a canceled XBox collab, which ties into this topic. Could you tell us what has happened and how you think the industry needs to adapt, according to your opinion?
Exactly, sharing the Xbox story was also an important decision for me and my team. I didn‘t want the whole thing to disrupt my good relationship I have built with the brand. Because we actually parted on good terms and maybe we‘ll get another chance to work on something else at some point. It‘s been a year now since I was contacted by Xbox. They asked me if I would like to do a collaboration with them. The marketing team was looking for a female designer for a project that focuses on female gaming. Everything started out pretty well and I worked on the concept over the course of the past year. However, we got to a point where Xbox said, „We‘re missing the connection to female gaming and female empowerment, couldn‘t you throw in a few buzzwords and catchphrases?“
However, I wanted to present the whole thing in a very personal way, rather subtle and not blatantly striking. That‘s why the collaboration had to be canceled and to me that was the perfect example of what is going wrong at the moment. I don‘t have many female colleagues to look up to. Actually, I only have male references to measure myself against. And I don‘t see any of them doing politically motivated collaboration in which they have to send some kind of message in order to prove themselves or to be acknowledged by the community. It just becomes a performative act. I just want to be able to design cool things like everyone else, too. I would have loved to have had this Xbox collabo, but not if I have to go against my principles and be used for their feminist agenda. For me this is the absolute opposite of feminism.
Huni seems like a leading example of how a young brand can break away from all the established business conventions. Nearly everything is self-made, you are not represented by any physical retail spaces and everything is mostly streamlined to your online presence. So, what are your predictions of the future of hype or fashion retail in general?
I actually don‘t know and I never had a real plan for the future. I can only say what works right now and I don‘t really have any predictions at all. I primarily do what I feel like doing and the fact that I can be so free at this point is, of course, a huge privilege. Things develop as they come. So, there are no real principles that I follow. But personally for the future of Huni, I would say there isn‘t a collaboration that I‘m excited about anymore. I now understand that it is not necessary for me to work with other brands. This is no longer a goal for me as it once was. What is more important to me is my personal development and how my ideas get implemented. I have these seemingly endless lists of ideas and realizing them takes time and costs a lot of money. It‘s like a mission in a video game that I have to unlock and I‘ve gotten pretty far now. Many things are in development or near completion. But to be honest I see it more from an artistic perspective and not from a brand developing point of view. What‘s important to me is not how big my brand can become, but rather: how can I make myself happy as an artist? I believe that the more I can fulfill my creative vision, the more freedom I have and the better I will feel.
Any last words?
No. Besides thank you very much for the interview, I really appreciate it and it‘s an incredible privilege to have the opportunity to just talk because someone out there shows some interest.
Thank you so much!
All images courtesy of Huni / Mona Thomas
About the Author:
When he is not playing “Ryu Ga Gotoku”@Julian_Meinert is also working as a creative director for fashion and lifestyle brands.
