Suvudu Universe

TWG’s Fashion Friday continues with ActionPink’s Pin-Up Apron Line, a collection of impeccably designed and hand crafted aprons. Roderick and Ashley, the creative minds behind ActionPink, first introduced the line back in August 2014 with the Sweet Cherry Pie Handmade Apron. The collection has grown since then to include a handful of aprons inspired by popular Star Wars characters, like Boba Fett and Darth Vader.

“Perfect for a day of baking, entertaining guests, and even costume parties,” the aprons have received 5-star reviews from Etsy buyers, the most recent review coming from a fan planning to wear it as a dress for the premiere of the sequel film.

TWG caught up with Roderick and Ashley to talk about ActionPink and their wonderful aprons.

How did the name ActionPink come about? What’s the meaning behind it?

ActionPink was the name Ashley selected for her eBay account, email, and Etsy store when she was only 17. She had heard the combination of words randomly and thought that they sounded interesting. Designing items for sale on Etsy is Ashley’s childhood dream. Once we began to design and sell items in these stores as a husband and wife team, we considered changing it. It occurred to me that since I was beginning to customize action figures and had already established the eBay store as a go-to for collectibles, and Ashley was beginning to develop clothing for the Etsy Store, the name fit rather well. “Action” to represent the cool Star Wars, Transformers, and other pop culture that I was interested in, and “Pink” to represent all the cute dresses and aprons she planned to make. We kept ActionPink as our name as it surmises what our company is about – Cosplay and Collectibles for the whole family, fanboy, fangirl, and fan-kids alike!

Your apron dresses are beautifully designed. Do you have a background in fashion design?

Ashley has numerous years’ experience as the Costume Designer for the Lansing Community College theater department and has won a Best Costume Designer for one of her past shows, Ragtime. She has amazing technical skill and abilities to create nearly any style. As our collecting and love of Star Wars raged on, we were more plugged in to the cosplay/convention scene, and it dawned on me that not only my wife, but many other women, children, and people of all ages were really getting into this stuff! Our children loved Star Wars as much as we do, and we dreamed of taking them to conventions dressed up as a family.

What inspired you to pick the apron dress design and combine it with Star Wars?

The Pin-Up Aprons/Dresses came together out of that, and also, the growing movement of women in Star Wars. I would draw ideas based on her styles, and she would make them exist. I suppose our huge love for each other allows us to be honest about what will work or look good. We are both artistic and creative. I do the painting and stencil out the pieces. I also do a lot of the ironing and other basic duties.

What are some interesting things Star Wars fans should know about ActionPink?

We are huge supporters of women in Hollywood, and we are very excited about the growing presence of strong female leading characters in Star Wars and other franchises. We had the honor of being contacted by Sandy “Momma Fett” Dhuyvetter (one of the original artists that worked on the Boba Fett costume for The Empire Strikes Back). She bought a Boba Fett apron from ActionPink and told us that she loved it as a symbol for Momma Fett. She will be posting and sending pictures at some point, and we plan to pass them around.

What are you working on now? May we get a sneak peek?

We are very excited about all of the strong females in Star Wars and fans can look forward to new apron designs, summer dresses, accessories, and eventually, full-on costumes (Amidala’s wedding dress is Ashley’s favorite) of characters, such as Sabine, Bo-Katan, Ahsoka, and other non-Star Wars ladies (Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, etc.).

Make sure to follow ActionPink on Twitter and Facebook for future updates!

Visit their Etsy and eBay stores for more merchandise and collectibles.

Last but not least, visit their brand new website, where you can find their blog and sign up for their mailing list.