Like to punctuate your style with a few pieces of flair? So do we, which is why we were excited to discover Paulina Berczynski and her accessories label, FluffyCo, which specializes in subtle, well-made items that add a touch of kitsch and a lot of style.

Berczynski, a self-professed “case junkie” with a background in graphic design and illustration, grew up in Philadelphia and moved to San Francisco for the first time in the late ‘90s. After relocating to the Northwest, she and a friend began producing their arty, handmade goods for a living.

“My best friend Somya and I had a business for two years in Seattle, called Truckstop Ink, and she’s still running it, it’s truckstopink.com,” Berczynski explains. “It was the same kind of idea only it was more housewares-oriented. We used screen prints applied to wood for things like magnets or calendars or key hook boards. We did postcards, T-shirts.”

FluffyCo was born when Berczynski returned to the City last fall and started a small screen-printing business out of her kitchen.

“I’m one of those people who has to have a little bag for everything, maybe it’s a little bit of an organization obsession,” she admits.

“But I really like to accessorize. I don’t like to really rock out with my fashion, but I like to have pretty nice accessories. The products that I started [FluffyCo] with are things that I would want.”
The designer says one of the main things she learned from her experience with Truckstop Ink is the importance of using locally made materials.

“I think I’m going to switch [from vinyl] to Naugahyde, because it’s 100% made with pride in the USA,” she says with a grin. “It’s much more expensive, but I think it’s really important to try to keep things local. Unemployment’s high enough, you know?”

FluffyCo’s ever-expanding line includes wrist cuffs, iPod cases, sunglass cases, checkbook covers, luggage tags and colorful button sets, and newer products such as underwear and T-shirts. Not only are Fluffy’s products fun, stylish and unique, they’re refreshingly affordable; T-shirts are the priciest items at $22.

“Fluffy is still in such a beginning phase, I have to see what’s going to be more popular and see which direction it evolves,” Berczynski says.

“I want it to stay in a very definite accessories realm, but there’s a lot of different directions I want to take my crafty business ideas.

“I’m going to start another business, I think, that’s more housewares-oriented, instead of expanding FluffyCo into that,” she goes on. “I’m doing some collaborations right now. I’m doing wall graphics, with my friend, Michelle - self-adhesive wall decals for the kitchen and stuff. And my other friend and I are trying to develop a mini clothing line.”

Find FluffyCo in San Francisco at Candystore (in the former Mimi Barr space - 3153 16th St.) and Otsu (3253 16th St.), online at cutxpaste.com and fluffyco.com, and in select stores nationwide.