With millions of products sold since 1992, Rasta Imposta’s philosophy and mission remains the same — create funny, easy-to-wear hats and costumes that make people laugh. Owners Robert and Tina Berman spoke to Ed Avis, executive director of the NCA (National Costume Association) about crazy hats, costume design and the importance of looking forward.
Robert: “I had graduated in 1989 and my sister Jodi and I decided to make novelty ski hats. The Bob Marley ‘Legend’ album was popular around that time and I made some dreadlocks with wool and glued them into a baseball hat. I took the hats to bars on Long Beach Island and sold them for $20.
Around that same time Tina had opened The Mod Hatter, an outdoor pushcart at Schooner’s Wharf that sold decorative and novelty hats. Eventually Tina and I met and we started dating. In 1993 we went to the Halloween show in Chicago, and the dreadlock hat was the hit of the show.”
Tina: “The reason the hats did well at that first show was that it was that time in the world when people liked the idea that they could just wear their regular clothes and throw on a hat and they’d be in a costume. Rental costumes were still huge in those days, and there was a need for something easier. We were in our early 20s and we brought something fresh and different to the show. The attendees, including a lot of NCA members, became our customers.
My parents owned a party rental store in Pennsylvania that had a costume department, so I grew up in this business. We asked them for advice about what would sell well, and that’s when we made the first pimp suit.
Then one of the big companies knocked off our pimp suit with a much cheaper version. We were manufacturing everything in New Jersey at the time, so we said, ‘We have to look for overseas manufacturing or we will go out of business.‘ That was a turning point for us.”
Robert: “Getting knocked off like that was a real challenge. I was always worried about our competitors doing that. But I credit Louis Klaitman of Lookinglass, our first sales rep, for giving me some advice in that regard that I still keep. He said’ ‘If you’re in a running race and you’re always looking over your shoulder, you’ll never win.’ That advice has stuck with us. We’re always looking forward.”
Tina: “We get our ideas by looking at pop culture and what’s going on in the world, what people find currently funny. Robert and I constantly talk to our children, who are 12 and 14, and they help keep us in tune. It’s amazing to watch the creativity of the next generation come out.
We love making things that are nostalgic, that create an emotional response in people. We’ve made a lot of costumes of basic products – like a banana and a hot dog. And we’ve made a lot of licensed costumes from brand name products, like Heinz Ketchup and Hershey’s Chocolate. Our licensing guy has a lot of integrity and good relationships, so he helps bring in these offers. Now national brands come to us because they know we are the best ones for those kinds of costumes.
At the end of the day laughter is what’s important, especially with all the craziness in the world. The products we make ultimately make people laugh, and that’s what keeps us going.”
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