Curated with childlike wonder and cultural celebration, Chunky is a not-so-hidden gem in the heart of Chinatown Los Angeles. With something cute to discover in every corner of the store, your mood seems to lift from the very first moment you step foot within its threshold. The store’s iconic Chunky Baby mascot can, of course, be spotted with his unmistakable, zen-like joy, grinning from different posts throughout the shop. Various critters are equally cheerful from their positions on art prints, red envelopes, and more, beckoning you near to take a closer look.
Founded and operated by husband and wife duo, Jeff and Julie Lien, Chunky has established itself as a self-described gift shop, artfully overflowing with plenty of mementos and souvenirs that are too adorable to pass up. The sense of curiosity that the store inspires is perhaps both accidental and intentional, the environment filled with things that Jeff and Julie would want themselves.
Most of what you will find inside Chunky is designed by Lien and Lien – red envelopes, stickers, tees, caps, art prints, all featuring characters that are the wide-eyed products of Jeff and Julie’s own vibrant imaginations. Both co-founders are self-taught artists that have explored their passion for creativity and imbued it with their own experiences as Chinese & Taiwanese Americans growing up in California.
Inspired by colorful stories from their childhoods and sprinkled with personas from their boundless imaginations, they have since introduced crowd-favorite graphics such as their hallmark Chunky Baby character, the cheeky “Cozy Trauma Club” motif (sometimes paired with a pair of house slippers, in fact), and Musubear – who pays homage to the beloved spam musubi snack and is often seen snoozing on a bed of rice, spam and nori – just to name a few.
Although everyday is a celebration of Asian culture here at LANG, we are especially grateful to our community for sharing their stories with us this May for AAPI Month. Read on to learn more about Jeff and Julie’s journey with Chunky, accompanied by images captured by long-time friend of the brand, photographer Daniel Nguyen.
LANG: What inspired the concept for Chunky?
Chunky: Chunky means more of the good things. Chunky started about 4-5 years ago now as a way for us to feel more creative. Much of what we do comes from the things we liked growing up and the things we like now. You’ll find a lot of pop culture references in our work, from movies to manga, it’s our hope that you feel a bit chunkier after visiting.
As a self-described gift shop, there’s a little bit of everything at Chunky. How do you approach the curation of the shop?
We curate the store with the things we would want ourselves. Most of what you’ll find in our shop nowadays is designed by us, so curation is more focused on story, in order to create a cohesive vibe when you come through. You’ll find seasonal themes around our products, which means we do our best to always have something new for you to explore.
Chunky is proudly AAPI. Can you tell us a bit more about your experience as a store that puts its AAPI identity front and center?
We wouldn’t be doing Chunky if we weren't doing us! Chunky is our outlet for creativity, and a lot of our inspiration comes from our day-to-day. We’re Chinese & Taiwanese American, and we both grew up all around California. That’s a pretty specific combination; the stories and visuals that come out of our backgrounds reflect that. What we’ve learned over the last 5 years is that while our stories come from a personal place, the messages tend to be universal.
What is your favorite memory from connecting with your customers?
We love it when customers connect with our work in a way that’s their own. We’re generally at the shop everyday behind the desk, and it’s so much fun when a customer tells us why a specific product or piece of art reminds them of a story from their life. Some of our references aren’t entirely mainstream, so finding common ground with the work we do is so humbling and gratifying. Our Chunky Baby mascot is one that gets referenced a lot – we now know a lot of our customers either looked like our chunky baby or have one of their own haha!
You guys have a background in graphic design. When it comes to the original art at Chunky, can you tell us a bit more about the development of the characters and how you approach new designs?
When we create a new character or mascot, we typically start with an emotion that we’re trying to capture. It’s not a very straight-forward process, sometimes designs come quickly, others take months. This might be related to the fact that we’re both entirely self-taught, so our process sometimes lacks structure. Maybe that gives us room for imagination to flow and for a-ha moments to come more organically. Maybe it’s also why we’re always stressing haha. Regardless, our characters always have some aspect to them inspired by our experiences. One of our goals this year is to share more of those stories.
Chunky is known for its hand-made red envelopes. Why is this artistic medium so special to you and how do you make it unique every year?
Chunky started with our hand-made red envelopes. It was our very first product. We wouldn’t be here without them! When we started 4-5 years ago, it was with a collection of red envelopes we made for our friends for Lunar New Year. We wanted to create something traditionally but with a modern twist. A blend of our Asian and our American side. Every year, we plan our red envelopes around the upcoming zodiac animal, and channel our inner beasts. Just kidding, but we do look for pop culture influences we can bring to each design!
What can visitors to the shop expect?
Good chunky vibes for all. We want you to feel all the happy feelings from the moment you step in. It’s our goal to make you feel welcome, and for the art and the products to give you a little escape.
What makes someone LANG/beautiful?
Your authentic self makes you LANG ♥️
Photography by: Daniel Nguyen
SHOP JEFF & JULIE'S LOOKS
