Making it work ! The birth of THE LOOT ⋆˚꩜｡
Hi there ! ⭐︎
(Well, it has been a while since I wrote a proper blog post ! Last time might have been when Tumblr was the coolest social media around - still is to me -, so please excuse me if this one is a bit dull ahah !)
That said ... Thank you for visiting THE LOOT ! And if you want to know how everything started and why, well bear with me. But first, let me introduce myself :
My name is Lea, but I'm known online as GOBLIN, a character I created around 4 years ago, and it has been my online persona since then ! I like the idea of a cute but mischevious character, and tbh, I do sometimes, feel like a goblin !
Growing up in France, I've always been the weird art child, but getting a proper internet access in my early teens really shaped my love for animation, design & fashion. I quickly fell in love with various j-fashion movements and joined niche online communities. I always had a taste for perculiar clothing, fashion, objects.
While THE LOOT is my main focus at the moment, I also aim to become a proper DJ & producer in the coming years ! I also recently signed to take part to my friend Fanny's project : Powerrrhouse Records (I'm the President, waaaaah !!!) - this project aims to support upcoming musical talents.
(cover art I did back then for an imaginery EP, and the first time "GOBLIN" came to me)
In the past years, I had the chance to travel & live accross different countries and continents. Along my travels, I discovered many artists, illustrators, designers. I was always bringing back stickers, trinkets & shiny things I found to be unique.
After a severe burnout, I left Paris to go back to my hometown : I needed to rest.
During this time, all the things that I loved as a teen came back to me. I started exchanging letters with new penpals, painting, decorating my journals with many stickers, reading my old FRUITS magazine ... it really lifted my spirit !
Anywhere I could find stickers, cool trinkets or zines, I'd purchase them : I travelled to London, spent all my money at WASTE! Store, and got inspired by the ordered chaos of the shop.
Then, a friend told me about Gatoshop.mx ,an independant Mexico-based online shop : I bought a ridiculous amount of stickers from them (I highly recommand checking them out, their selection is incredible, and they promote local Mexican artists as well !).
I used all my finds to decorate my Hobonichi, my journals, my laptop. My old FRUITs magazines, my zines, all my weird books, I decided to put them back on my bookshelves : I was coming back to something true. Something that made sense to me.
For years, I had to hide this part of my persona, but not anymore.
I started to think : wouldn't it be cool to be able to promote the niche artists & designers I love, in France & Europa ? Wouldn't it be cool to share the perculiar finds I make while travelling ?
(the name came to me on a random night & I wrote it in a rush, on the first piece of paper availble. I kept it on my desk for over a year, and it's now pinned on the wall facing my desk)
The idea matured for a year and a half. In between, I travelled to Seoul, where I discovered Fuzzy Land at an artist street market, I went shopping at Bluscreenshop (coolest spot ever tbh) to buy some GOGO!Project & sunonebird stickers, to OBJECT for some cool postcards and so on and so on...
This visit to Seoul confirmed my sentiment that my idea could actually work. Then, I went to Tokyo. There, I discovered alldollscode at Laforet Harajuku and I instantly fell in love with their graphic style. I went hunting for vintage fashion magazines in Jinbocho, travelled around, bought lots of stationnery & trinkets and then ...
(bluscreenshop in Seoul, Korea. This shop is one of my favorite shop EVER, 100% swag and aura)
Then ... If you know me personally, you know that always say "All hustle, no luck".
That's my motto in life. Back in France, it was time to craft a serious plan. It took several months, lots of doubt & fear, a little bit of courage, but here we are ! I'm excited to share it with the world.
THE LOOT is now alive !!! There's a lot more I could type here ... but I just want to say thank you the people that believed in me & in my idea : my friends : Amiel, Meli, all my dear penpals, my family and of course ... a HUGE thank you to all of the artists that accepted to be part of this project.
A special thank you to @nyanndrea for designing the cutest goblin mascot ever.
Lots of love ,
Goblin