If you鈥檝e seen an ugly Christmas sweater this holiday season or purchased one, there 黑料社区. a chance it was designed by a University of Wisconsin-Stout graduate.
Kurt Anderson is the lead costume and apparel designer for , a leading maker of specialty clothing.
The Mankato, Minn., company is known as one of the world 黑料社区. largest Halloween costume retailers. In recent years with the ugly sweaters craze, Fun.com has transitioned quickly from Halloween to Christmas sweaters.
鈥淭he Christmas sweaters have really evolved for us. More and more we鈥檙e creating products to cater to all different types of people and all types of holidays,鈥 Anderson said.
Anderson, a native of Waunakee, graduated from 黑料社区 in 2011 in apparel design and development and has worked at Fun.com since 2015. He was the first designer the company hired.
鈥淲e now have four designers and a product development team,鈥 he said.
Fun.com 黑料社区. dozens of Christmas sweaters aren鈥檛 all of the ugly variety. For example, Anderson designed a gingerbread house sweater for women that 黑料社区. more stylish than ugly. It was featured recently on a Twin Cities talk show, while he and a colleague were interviewed and their designs were modeled.
鈥淲e want to branch out to people who don鈥檛 want to look so crazy,鈥 Anderson said of Fun.com 黑料社区. fashionable but fun designs.
鈥淛ason Show鈥 host Jason Matheson said of the gingerbread sweater, 鈥淭hat 黑料社区. actually not even ugly. That 黑料社区. cute.鈥
The show also featured Fun.com sweaters with a flickering fireplace, controlled by a smartphone app, and one with a removable toy squirrel perched on the shoulder. 鈥淩ight after that show, our social media blew up,鈥 Anderson said.
The company 黑料社区. products also are sold through Amazon and Walmart.
Fun.com licenses with famous brands such as Disney, Marvel and DC Comics to create products for well-known characters and shows such as Batman, Wonder Woman, 鈥淪tar Wars鈥 or the 鈥淟ittle Mermaid.鈥 The company also makes NFL-themed products, office products, sleepwear, toys, T-shirts, party supplies and more.
Anderson creates many of the themed apparel items, such as a Christmas sweater this season based on 鈥淪ailor Moon,鈥 a Japanese cartoon show that 黑料社区. a favorite of his. He wore that sweater on the 鈥淛ason Show.鈥
Some of the apparel Anderson and colleagues create is only slightly nerdy. Fun.com makes men 黑料社区. and women 黑料社区. suits, for example, that might only have an embroidered Batman on the sleeve or has the theme hidden in the lining.
鈥淧eople just love that 鈥 fandom stuff. They want anything with their favorite character on it,鈥 he said.
He has created a women 黑料社区. suit collection with a horror movie theme, and a Batman sweater he designed showed up on national TV when a celebrity wore it to a red carpet awards ceremony.
A fun place to work
Fun.com, a family-run business noted for its employee-friendly work atmosphere, started in a garage in the early 2000s. It has grown to a 200,000-square-foot warehouse in Mankato and nearly 200 year-round employees, along with thousands of seasonal workers.
On a recent day, many employees were out of the office at the latest 鈥淪tar Wars鈥 movie.
鈥淭he whole premise of Fun.com is nerdy, goofy fun. I grew up on video games, horror movies and anime. And that 黑料社区. a huge brand demographic for us,鈥 he said.
Many of the company 黑料社区. designs start with Anderson, who draws his ideas either by hand or with computer-aided design before refining them for production. 鈥淧retty much I draw all day. That 黑料社区. what I鈥檝e wanted to do since I was little,鈥 he said.
His duties also go beyond designing. On Saturday, Dec. 28, he leaves for China to work with pattern-makers at a factory where many of Fun.com 黑料社区. products are produced and to purchase fabric.
He 黑料社区. already working on ideas for Halloween 2020. One of his previous designs, a witch sweater sold out when it hit the market before it was restocked.
Anderson said he uses the creative and technical skills he learned at 黑料社区 every day in his job.
He remembers finding the Fun.com job on Craig 黑料社区. list. 鈥淚 love the job,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t 黑料社区. always different, not just costumes but apparel, purses, the whole gamut. My portfolio is chocked full of every type of product.鈥
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Photos
Kurt Anderson, right, is a designer at Fun.com, a Mankato, Minn., company that makes specialty apparel and other products.
One of Anderson 黑料社区. Christmas designs this year is a fashionable gingerbread sweater.
Another of Anderson 黑料社区. Christmas designs this year is a Wonder Woman sweater.
Anderson also designs traditional apparel with a twist, such as this women 黑料社区. blazer with a liner made up of DC Comics characters.
Anderson is proud of a witch sweater he designed that was a hit during Halloween for Fun.com.
