LEWD COMPLEX: The Fastest Growing Anime Brand

The best way to describe Lewd Complex is an anime & ecchi inspired clothing and lifestyle brand. Sometimes we do go full on hentai but a lot of our designs and some of the most popular designs aren’t sexual at all. It’s more than just clothing though, art prints, air fresheners, stickers, accessories and we also do custom work for clients.

One day I just sat at my computer thinking really hard.. I probably thought about this in the shower as well. What name POPS and what name would represent what I’m going for. Lewd definitely describes the brand but isn’t too X-rated. A lot of people have no clue what lewd even means.. these are most likely people who don’t watch anime and just aren’t familiar with that type of vocabulary. Even with the understanding of Lewd, it’s not a crazy name like SEXUAL Complex that will turn people off by just the name. Complex was added because I want this to be more than just clothing. Even today I’m trying to expand the brand and go further than what we have released or  accomplished already. When I think of complex, I just think of a lot of different things connected by the same base. Like a big spider web of lewdness. Or a brain full of lewd thoughts lol.

I really wish I could remember that first thought I had about the brand and why I wanted to do it.. but there are multiple reasons/experiences that led up to its creation. At 17 years old I started a clothing brand in high-school

with a couple friends. It was kept local, mainly within the school. Sold pretty well for a few young students, but I also learned what it’s like working with others, not having full freedom and seeing a brand kind of rise and fall.

I stepped out of it because I could see some future copyright issues but my partners didn’t agree and also with the name and style we were going with, I just couldn’t see a successful future for the brand. There were many other mistakes but we were young as hell so.. lol. After high-school, age 18-19, I started another clothing brand. It was extremely successful but it was only kept local. With local customers, you only have so much reach. I didn’t have the internet on my side at the time. As years went by, being a live streamer and marketing my music and gaming channel, I’ve learned the ropes of advertising and bringing in new viewers and potential customers. I also have a friend from Australia that I met playing MMORPGs who is really into cars (Shoutout @laksa.boi). On instagram, I saw that he always had cool stickers on his car and wondered where I could get my hands on some.

Another friend Hermsaur, and fellow Youtuber also showcased stickers in his pictures and this had me more intrigued. I ended up buying my first die-cut from DripNDrop Shop. It was a Celty sticker from Durarara. After receiving it, I just thought.. man.. I could make these myself. So with my previous experience of running clothing brands, learning marketing, being introduced to the sticker scene and also having a VERY talented partner who did many designs for me in the past (@shiyuki.draws), I decided to start this brand and create stickers that I would want to see. Shortly after I put some of the designs on clothing and saw how successful it was, so clothing became the main focus.

Another brand that really inspired me was LowKeyGeeks. After getting into the anime sticker/slap scene, LowKey definitely had top-notch designs and inspired me to come up with really cool crossover ideas.

As mentioned in my book above lol! I’ve been doing marketing for what seems like forever.. I make music as well and that’s how it all started. From music to live streaming to Youtube. I had to find ways to market my content. I’ve made mistakes, seen success.. but also have failed many many times. So after all that experience. Starting this brand and finding ways to get it out there was a breeze. I did it without using my Youtube persona as well because I wanted this to be something on it’s own. I didn’t want the brand being paired with a face or succeeding because of that.

Well I just saw a clip of a scene from Darling in the Franxx. Pink haired girl with horns.. she was naked. Instant boner lol. Merlin from Seven Deadly Sins is also a bad bitch.

First we started with Release __ and so on. Everyone does releases though.. so I thought of something new. Different dimensions. As if the new items are coming from like a random portal that appeared in the universe. Our characters also have backstories and are from different dimensions so it fits. Aiko is from the fantasy dimension, Otoji is from the modern world. Yurei is from the samurai era (not really a different dimension) but her world has a lot of fantasy in it as well. Different dimensions won’t always be NEW designs. Sometimes old designs will make returns in new dimensions. Favorite pieces from each one.. well some of my favorites are Possessed Yurei Pullovers as it has a pretty cool backstory to it. Our Happy design is also one of my favorites as the meaning comes from experience with shitty mental health. Behind You is another! It was a collab design with one of my good friends and the last design that comes to mind as a favorite is Succubus Seduction. That design is just lewd as hell!

To close out this interview, I just wanna thank all those who have supported us and helped us grow. It’s been amazing meeting other brands and cool people through doing this. I started this in 2017 and it has been a crazy ride.. tons of stressful moments and lots of ups and downs but that made the ride that much better. It’s been a huge learning experience. I also want to thank my right-hand man and business partner Shiyuki. Without Shiyuki, I wouldn’t have started this brand. He was able to bring my ideas to life from the start and… I just can’t imagine a world without this dude 

to anyone else who has contributed/collaborated with Lewd Complex, thank you.