The Junco traces its roots to 2006, when its underlying business began developing expertise in bag manufacturing in mainland China. According to the company’s own account, it subsequently developed and popularised self-designed ita bags, anime bags and idol-fan merchandise through Chinese domestic social media channels.[1]

The brand’s development therefore appears to have followed two closely related paths: traditional bag manufacturing and the growing market for fan-oriented and customisable bags.

The company now presents The Junco as the consumer-facing expression of a broader manufacturing and design ecosystem rather than simply a conventional handbag label. Its stated objective is to connect designers, brands and individual customers with its production capabilities.[1]

There is also evidence of a THE JUNCO trademark associated with Xiamen Velo Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd. in the United States, with an earlier application filed in 2017. That particular US application was abandoned in 2018, so it should not be confused with evidence of the current brand’s operating status.[2]

More recently, THE JUNCO appears in the Philippine Intellectual Property Office’s 2025 registered-trademark gazette, listed under Xiamen Velo Imp and Exp. Co., Ltd. in Class 18, the class covering leather goods, bags and related products.[3]

The Junco’s most distinctive positioning is its combination of fashion, fandom, customisation and practical bag design.

The brand specifically describes itself as creating bags for idol fans, with products intended to work both at concerts and during ordinary travel. Its stated philosophy is that a bag can simultaneously be a practical object and a visible expression of a person’s fandom and identity.[1]

This is particularly evident in its ita bag products.

An ita bag is a type of bag designed with transparent or display areas where fans can arrange badges, pins, keychains, plushies, photographs, acrylic stands and other merchandise associated with an anime, game, idol or fictional character. The Junco explicitly identifies ita bags as one of its major product categories.[1]

The result is a brand positioned somewhere between:

• Fashion accessory brand
• Fandom merchandise brand
• Custom-product manufacturer
• Bag design platform
• Direct-to-consumer e-commerce company

The Junco has a notably broad bag catalogue. Its website currently organises products into categories including:

• Backpacks
• Anime bags
• Ita bags
• Tote bags
• Cross-body bags
• Handbags
• Duffle bags
• Gym bags
• Travel bags
• Laptop bags
• Mommy bags
• Kids’ bags
• Outdoor bags
• Waist bags
• Chest bags
• Cosmetic bags
• Beach bags
• Baby bags[1]

The brand also organises products according to use scenario, including business, daily use, gym, hiking, office, party, school, travel, workout and other situations.[1]

Product design

A major feature of The Junco is the mixture of ordinary functional bags with highly stylised designs.

Examples appearing in its catalogue include products such as Popcorn, Proxima, Little Conch, Blue Deer, Garnet Star, Hamburger, Chinese Gooseberry, Deep in the Snow and Full Moon. Many are explicitly marketed as anime, ita, display-pocket or fandom-oriented bags.[1]

The catalogue also includes more conventional products, such as customisable leather backpacks, denim totes, gym bags, lunch bags and multifunctional travel bags.[1]

This gives The Junco a relatively unusual product mix: mainstream functional bags exist alongside highly niche fandom products.

Customisation is one of the central elements of The Junco’s identity.

The company promotes an online design system that allows customers to select bag styles and customise elements such as:

• Colours
• Patterns
• Text
• Artwork
• Personalised graphics
• Logos
• Other visual elements

Customers can also upload their own artwork for supported products.[1]

This makes The Junco different from a conventional fashion company that simply designs finished products. Its stated model is closer to “design-to-produce”, where the customer or independent designer participates in the design process and The Junco provides the manufacturing infrastructure.[1]

The company describes its manufacturing infrastructure as the “The Junco Super Supply Chain”.

According to the brand, the system is intended to serve three main groups:

1. Independent designers and design enthusiasts — people who want to turn original concepts into physical bags.
2. DTC brands — companies requiring flexible, scalable bag production and rapid prototyping.
3. DIY/customisation customers — individuals wanting to design personalised bags.[1]

The company says its system incorporates material sourcing, production, inventory management, tracking and order fulfilment, with an emphasis on shortening the path between design and finished product.[1]

It also states that standard custom orders generally require 3–5 business days of production, followed by approximately 7–15 business days of shipping, depending on destination and order circumstances.[1]

The Junco’s catalogue covers a wide range of materials rather than relying on a single signature fabric.

Its website lists materials including:

• Canvas
• Corduroy
• Kraft paper
• Leather
• Mesh
• Nylon
• Oxford cloth
• Polyester
• PVC
• RPET
• Satin
• Tyvek
• Denim
• Reflective materials[1]

The use of materials such as RPET also allows the catalogue to include products marketed around recycled-material construction.

Fandom is arguably The Junco’s most recognisable niche.

The brand’s products frequently incorporate concepts associated with anime, gaming, idols and character merchandise, particularly through the ita bag format. Rather than treating fandom merely as printed decoration, the bags are designed to display and organise fan collections.

This makes the bag itself part of the fan experience.

For example, a display-pocket backpack can function simultaneously as a backpack, merchandise display, fashion accessory and expression of fandom identity.

The company’s own positioning emphasises this social aspect: fans wearing similarly themed bags can recognise one another and communicate a shared interest through the accessory itself.[1]

The Junco’s central philosophy can be summarised as personalisation through bags.

Its website uses the phrase “Realize your ideal bags & backpacks. Design the very one only belongs to you.”[1]

That philosophy is reflected in three major ideas:

Individuality.
Customers are encouraged to create bags that reflect their own tastes rather than simply purchasing standardised products.

Community.
The company presents itself as connected to a broader community of designers and fandom enthusiasts.[1]

Accessibility of production.
Instead of requiring customers to be professional manufacturers, The Junco attempts to make customisation and production accessible through its online design tools and supply chain.

The Junco’s business model combines several layers.

Direct-to-consumer

Consumers can purchase finished bags directly through the company’s online store. The catalogue includes both regular products and limited/sale products.[1]

Custom manufacturing

Customers can customise supported products, turning the company into something closer to an on-demand bag manufacturer.

Designer support

Independent designers can theoretically use the company’s manufacturing capabilities to turn concepts into physical products.

Brand manufacturing

The company also positions its supply chain as infrastructure for other DTC brands that need bag production without building their own manufacturing operation.[1]

This combination is important because it means The Junco is not solely a retail brand; it also presents itself as a B2B/B2C manufacturing platform.

The Junco operates through a cross-border e-commerce model. The company states that it ships products internationally and provides shipping options for major global logistics regions.[1]

Its presence in the Philippine trademark system is also notable: THE JUNCO appears in a 2025 IPOPHIL registered-trademark publication associated with Xiamen Velo Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd.[3]

That does not, by itself, establish the size of the company’s Philippine operations, but it indicates that the brand has pursued trademark protection in the Philippines.

The brand’s products appear to target several overlapping customer groups:

• Anime and manga fans
• K-pop/idol and entertainment fans
• Collectors
• Students
• Young fashion consumers
• People interested in personalised accessories
• Travellers
• Gym and outdoor users
• Parents looking for multifunctional bags
• Independent designers
• Small DTC brands

The strongest differentiation is probably among fandom consumers and people who want highly personalised bags.

The Junco’s identity can be understood through four keywords:

Customisation — Fandom — Functionality — Community

Unlike a luxury handbag brand, its value proposition is not primarily exclusivity through price or heritage. Instead, the brand emphasises making a bag uniquely relevant to its owner.

Likewise, compared with a conventional anime-merchandise company, The Junco is more focused on the bag as a reusable functional product, rather than simply selling licensed character merchandise.

The Junco occupies an interesting position between several industries.

Its strongest competitive characteristic is therefore vertical integration between design, customisation and manufacturing.

As of 2026, The Junco’s official site presents the company as a broad bag platform rather than a narrowly defined anime brand. Its catalogue spans everyday, professional, travel, fitness, school, outdoor and fandom-oriented products.[1]

At the same time, its roots in ita bags, anime bags and idol-fan products remain central to its identity and help distinguish it from generic backpack manufacturers.[1]

In short, The Junco can be described as a China-based bag design, customisation and manufacturing brand whose consumer identity is strongly connected to fandom culture and personalised accessories. Its long-term strategy appears to be broader than simply selling anime bags: it aims to build an ecosystem where customers, designers and DTC brands can design bags and have those designs rapidly manufactured.

One-sentence definition

The Junco is a Chinese bag and backpack brand specialising in customisable, fandom-oriented and lifestyle bags, supported by an integrated design-to-production supply chain that serves individual consumers, designers and DTC brands.[1]

Note: This is a research-style introduction based primarily on The Junco’s official materials and available trademark records. Some company-history and capability claims are therefore self-described by the brand, rather than independently verified.[1]

1. About – The Junco Official
2. THE JUNCO Trademark – Serial Number 87555992 :: Justia Trademarks
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