The employees of Yandy know all too well that sexy is the Halloween trend of the decade.
The Arizona-based company was started in 2005 by brothers Chad and Evan Horstman in Scottsdale. Today, Yandy operates out of a warehouse in Deer Valley Airpark and sells more than 7,000 items online, including lingerie, rave wear, swimwear, clothing, and Halloween costumes.
This year's big sellers: the Sexy Fox, the Sexy Watermelon, the Sexy Hamburger, and new arrivals, "sexy" Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird costumes. Seriously.
See Also: The Sexiest (and Most Ridiculous) Halloween Costumes of 2012 (Slideshow)
"Halloween is an excuse for women to dress up for one night out of the year as sexy as they want and not be judged," says Sarah Chamberlain, Director of Marketing for Yandy.
"In the last decade, a lot of the Halloween industry had dedicated their focus to the adult demographic specifically geared towards women, and for good reason. It's fun for women to dress up as characters, albeit scantily clad characters, that they can't dress up as in normal life ... Why some people get so up in arms because the sexy costume a woman chose to wear out for a night of carefree fun, which generally covers more than a standard bikini mind you, is beyond us."
Yandy's Halloween selection runs the gamut in size, price, and amount of clothing. The Sexy Hamburger will set you back $40, while the "Exclusive Yellow Dress and Stockings" (Big Bird) is $60. Chamberlain says the costume designs available on the website are from larger costume manufacturers, but exclusive designs are thanks to the Horstmans and their executive team. If the costume's inspired by a pop culture character, Chamberlain says costume manufacturers and Yandy must work with companies for licensing ... and get creative with costume names.
"Nothing is off the table no matter how obscure it seems," says Chamberlain. "If a sexy hamburger costume gets thrown out there, a sexy hamburger costume gets made. It's usually those obscure costumes that end up selling the best or gaining Yandy the most national attention."
Chamberlain admits that a few designs have gone back to the drawing board, but none have been rejected, and most go straight to the production team, who crank out dozens of new ideas every year to compete with pop-culture favorites and news-inspired (and often last-minute) throw-togethers. (No word from Yandy as to whether a sexy Potato Jesus is in the works for 2013 ...)
"I guess you could say we subscribe fully to a 'somewhat "cleaner" version of Rule 34: if it exists, there is a sexy version of it. We love to make costumes that make people laugh, gasp, loath, adore and talk about with their friends. Who knows, maybe next year you'll see a sexy toaster costume roaming around the party.... That's a great idea, actually."
For more information about Yandy, or to find just the costume that's just right to hit the club or pick the kids up from school on Halloween, check out Yandy's website and a slideshow of a few of their best sellers and (yes) most ridiculous.
