Hello, My Name Is Sprayground: Celebrating 15 Years Of Artistry

Forbes

7 hours ago

Sprayground's Hello My Name Is: 15 Years Quilted Backpack with Sin Título. Courtesy of Sprayground / DBD
'You know,' said David BenDavid, the founder and designer of Sprayground, 'people thought we were a one hit wonder. I remember doing our first trade show, and I was getting all these haters, I don't know, maybe they were jealous. Maybe they couldn't see it because everyone was doing t-shirts and apparel. And our booth was something different. I thought about that for a few days, like, 'oh, just a one hit wonder.' And then I changed everything.'
BenDavid, who prefers the initialism DBD, founded Sprayground in 2010, and to celebrate their 15th anniversary, the brand is about to drop an ultra-rare mini collection. Somehow in the midst of all of this, the founder made time to sit down and talk to me about his vocation, how his whirlwinds of color and unapologetically bold aesthetic has become what DBD calls 'the culmination of bag artistry.'
This commitment to ideals and the designer/founder's confidence in the DNA of his brand, the combination has allowed Sprayground to grow, but its more than that; this is a community at its heart and one which fully intends to thrive. I mean, DBD got Buzz Aldrin to participate in an editorial campaign. For someone infatuated with space exploration and well made fashion more generally, seeing 'Sold Out Forever' on the SHARKSTELLATION (BUZZ ALDRIN) backpack was exactly as painful as the memory I have of the time I did not buy a pair of vintage, gold lamé hot pants I absolutely should have.
Always buy the awesome vintage, if you love a piece and leave it behind? It will punish you by never appearing again. Luckily for me, in the case of the Aldrin Bag, there are Google Alerts a lady cab set to ensure an opportunity lost once does not become habitual.
A variety of bags and apparel designed by DBD for Sprayground. Courtesy of Sprayground / DBD
Small batch, high quality accessories and apparel (and sometimes couture! Including couture at London Fashion Week later this year!) are Sprayground's focus. DBD is a whirling dervish of a designer, constantly releasing new work, always small collections, always produced in a single run. When a brand engages with its clients authentically (forgive my use of that awful word), when mutual appreciation exists, it can feel like a physical loss to miss access to a particular piece or collection.
'I started to create smaller collections,' the company founder told me when I asked about the brand origin story. 'Everything limited edition and never produced again. That promise is on the tag, on the inner label. That's been the brand ethos, because I wanted everyone to feel the individuality. I wanted people to not have that same bag that everybody else has. I didn't want to create some boring run of the mill thing.'
If you don't already know, Sprayground started with a backpack based on the ubiquitous Hello, My Name is… name tag stickers, badges designed and intended to be added to. Created to ease social (or religious or corporate) gatherings with large numbers of attendants by ensuring names would not be forgotten.
DBD looked at those stickers and saw the potential for an entire culture. Where others were snippy about the brand's early success, DBD took the time to make certain it was only a jumping off point. And instead of becoming that one-hit-wonder, the founder ran with his success, evolving his company to meet the desires of his loyal, and exponentially growing, following.
A dancer carries a bag made of many mini Sprayground backpacks from the collections created to celebrate the brand's 15th anniversary. Courtesy of Sprayground / DBD
'What propelled me to collaboration was really the stores that carried Sprayground at the beginning,' the designer said. 'We had a strategy to sell to the sneaker boutiques, and they had never sold bags before, they didn't even have shelf space. They had to create shelves and put the bags where the sneakers were. But it was a great hit, the strategy was good because kids and celebrities were already shopping at those boutiques for cool sneakers. My brother used to work at Athletes Foot, and he would tell me all about these celebrities who would come into the store to look for the new hot sneakers out in the market. I thought that was very interesting, and so the plan was to focus there.'
Part of his success is a blend of tenacity and audacity, this is a businessperson who says what he wants and explains why. With hundreds of bags to exorcise from his head, DBD has no time for silly games. Following his initial success, buoyed by the vibrant colors and excellent quality of his products, soon a litany of celebrities and other high profile figures began choosing the brand on their own.
'Bruno Mars purchased one 13 or 14 years ago,' DBD said, describing to me the start of the onslaught of celebrity support. 'Then 50 Cent wore what I would say was the second most impactful bag I'd made, the Money Stacks bag. I'd built a fish tank in the dimensions of a bag, I photographed it, I printed on every side. It really gave the look of money stacked in a bag. From a production standpoint, no one else had figured out how to print like that. There's a lot of pioneering in the production and how our bags are made.'
'Then Kevin Durant wore us in the playoffs, on ESPN, he sat down to be interviewed and boom, he's wearing the Sprayground bag. Even Rihanna was wearing us. Then there was a shot of Beyonce getting into a helicopter with her money bag. And someone asked, she put her baby stuff in it.'
Of course none of this is stuff a person can prepare for, it requires an awful lot of hard work, consistently showing up, demonstrating tenacity across time.
'In the beginning,' the designer told me. 'the idea was to turn the mundane into insane, with insane being the word for creative impact and mundane being a utilitarian bag. I add from a functional standpoint, I beef up the utility, but I balance with fashion and the sleek way the art is applied. So it has that vibe. I like creating a lot of collections, a lot of different stories. But I mean, it's a little crazy what I do. Right now, it's our 15 year anniversary and I created 450 bags. I wanted fans to feel like they're getting something special. There's so much product in the world that's mass marketed, mass produced, that doesn't have that special flair to it. I try to do it in a cost effective way, the opening price point is $65. And it goes up, I don't know, probably like $150, but the core is like between $65, $80, $90.'
Designer David BenDavid wears ne of the extremely rare, limited edition Sprayground backpacks created to celebrate the brand's 15th anniversary. Photo Credit: Sin Título. Courtesy of Sprayground / DBD
Being the designer of a brand is one thing, taking on licensing deals from established intellectual properties is a whole separate ballgame, yet DBD and Sprayground juggle both as though it were effortless.
'There was something there,' he said to me, 'and seeing how cultural impact helped us get to the collabs helped us. The first big company to collaborate with us was Nickelodeon. They wanted to do something really fun with SpongeBob. When I made the first SpongeBob bag, oh my god, that thing flew like crazy.'
But before the deal was signed, DBD knew he had to be frank with the Nickelodeon team. He had ideas that might come across as wild, but they were good ideas. But good ideas can be easily lost in translation. There was never a guarantee that Sprayground would become the massive success it is today.
'In their normal licensing structure,' DBD explained about that first deal, 'they have a style guide that you have to conform to and listen to. But when we first started to work with them, I told them that there's a reason why you're working with us, it's to add that flair and funk and excitement. So I am going to break the rules of your style guide, I hope you're okay with that.'
I asked how they responded; this did not sound like the typical licensing negotiation which (can be) the bread and butter of many an apparel concern.
'They were very into it,' DBD said to me, and even though we were having a phone conversation, I could hear that he was smiling. With Disney he had a similar experience, a well known company was willing to hear him out, they saw the benefit of pushing some ultimately soft boundaries. The sophisticated audiences of 2025 require a little more grit, more mischievous fun. These ingredients are ones DBD possesses in great quantities.
A dancer models one of the extremely rare, limited edition Sprayground backpacks created to celebrate the brand's 15th anniversary. Courtesy of Sprayground / DBD
'I went for three days and toured Disney World,' he explained. 'I saw how Mickey Mouse and all the Disney properties have that, I don't want to say edge, but a little bit more fashion-forward perspective on product and merchandise. Because the content that we create is so beautiful, so wonderful and so magical; we really push the limits with that. I'm not shy to ask because I want to create that story and that amazing moment. So the fans and the customers can see like, wow, we went above and beyond.'
I asked for an example of another collaboration, another situation when it turned out that a giant brand trusted him to do what he does best.
'For Formula One,' DBD told me, 'I told them if we're going to work together, I need to have the racetrack. I need to have your car and I'm going to wrap your car. They were so open to it and they were very excited to do it and to try things.'
It is refreshing to see an attitude like this in the business of fashion; to have a firm perspective and an internal moral compass to guide decision making.
'You know,' DBS said, 'holding your ground and your vision, and then sharing your vision, it has been so important in getting things done. A collaboration might take a long time or many, many meetings. They can even get a little stressful because, hey, maybe we never did this particular thing before as a company. When I'm talking about the companies I work with, I try to be open minded. I want to see how we could evolve their brand into fashion.'
DBD thanks the audience after the Sprayground fashion show during the Milan Womenswear Spring/Summer 2025 in Milan. Getty Images
A company growing and expanding over 15 years is not a small feat. And these were incredibly busy years. Sprayground began working with the NBA, the NFL, the Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers.
'And now we're working with Disney,' DBD happily told me. 'So, Marvel and Star Wars , and even their upcoming movie Tron . I have been a Tron fan for years. I was asking Disney forever, let's do something with Tron , let's do something with Tron . And I kept hearing 'no, we're not ready yet.' Then all of a sudden, after literally asking them for five years, they're coming out with a new movie in October. It's time.'
Truly, talented people indulging themselves in work they love is a magical thing. And after hearing all the stories, I felt certain that with all those years of Tron fandom behind him, DBD would have plenty of ideas.
'I over-designed,' he admitted with a laugh. 'I overwhelmed them. I felt bad.'
The massive amounts of detailed work that go into any of Sprayground's bags add to their allure. These are fun accessories, but they are an equal balance of substance and style. This is work that feels like dialogue expressed through juxtaposition. It is openly considering the places and times when form or function is the goal. A majestic piece created for the brand's 15th birthday illustrates this beautifully.
The train on The Scroll of 15 Years DLXV Backpack (ultra rare). Courtesy of Sprayground / DBD
'The Scroll of 15 Years DLXV Backpack,' DBD told me, 'is not necessarily functional. I only made a few of them and they're super high priced because it took a lot to make even one of them.'
The best way I can think to describe it is a backpack with a train, and please understand that I am very serious when I tell you the overall effect is majestic. The backpack itself is Sprayground's now-iconic red and white Hello, My Name Is… debut pack, the one whose success got the brand off the ground and convinced DBD that he needed to push himself out of his comfort zone and figure out how to create something truly epic.
From the base of the super-rare bag fall 15 panels, one for each year the brand has existed, a joyful and chaotic rainbow of celebratory excess. This writer cannot wait to see the editorial images which are certain to dazzle social media once the anniversary drop officially goes live on June 30, 2025, and street style lovers the world over start to play.
'The Scroll depicts a few iconic Sprayground bags from over the years in a very fun way,' DBD told me when I asked about this fabulous creation. 'My mission is to make things that have never existed, things that no one could imagine. And it all started with a bag.' MORE FROM FORBES Forbes All Hail Qveen Herby: A Conversation About Costume Versus Clothing By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes The Future Of The Spacesuit: What NASA's Artemis Astronauts Will Wear By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes Trinidad James: The Art And Style Of Cultural Evolution By Rachel Elspeth Gross