Holic Mode is a geekwear, cosplay and digital design studio owned and operated by Tiffany Hutabarat-Nelson in Louisville, KY. This small business started by offering cosplay commissions to local cosplayers, but has grown to be able to serve clients worldwide. In the last year Holic Mode expanded to include the larger geek community with original anime and gamer inspired designs on stickers, prints and apparel.
The Short Ver.
Hi, I’m Tiffany Nelson (she/her), the owner of Holic Mode. I make colorful and fun art and apparel for people who want to show off their geeky vibes.
Holic Mode started out with the thought, “I wish there was more cute merch for older geeks like me.” I wanted something fun and fashionable that had an anime aesthetic; however most of the mass-produced fanwear around me at the time was tailored to heteronormative sexy trends—mind you, I too appreciate a sexy waifu—but also could we get more cool shit for all my geeky gals, gays, and theys?? Even as geek culture has become more mainstream, many of the products geared toward us are passed off as childish or weird, but what’s wrong with being a little weird? I prefer to think that putting the things I love on my literal sleeve makes life more fun!
Flash forward a decade or so and now I have my own brand, where I design and make geeky art and apparel as a love letter to my teenage self. Inspired by motifs from anime and video games, I put my art on folding fans, shirts, stickers, and more! Developing Holic Mode has given me the courage to put my queerness more on display through the ice cream pride collection as well as my Holic OC art. This brand is how I now tell the 13-year-old geek inside of me to love what you love, love who you love, and love how you show it.
