Editor’s Note: The Oumano family has been essential to the costume and Halloween industry since Franco American Novelty Company was founded more than a century ago. In this interview, Michele Oumano Powell, founder of Costume Culture by Franco, gives some highlights of the company’s history and explains that Costume Culture carries on the family tradition.
NCA: Tell us a little about the history of your family’s business.
Michele Oumano: My grandfather, Samuel Oumano, founded Franco American Novelty Company in 1910. My grandfather was actually a magician, and he was called the Great Sammano. He is known to have invented “The Brass Nickel to Dime Trick.” He started the business by selling souvenirs and trinkets, eventually getting involved with novelties, tricks and jokes, and magic. At the time the company was located at 29th and Broadway in Manhattan.
My father, Robert, joined the company in the 1940s, when he came back from serving in World War II. One of his jobs, as a buyer for Franco, was to travel to Europe and Asia to find products to import. For example, we started importing latex Halloween masks from Germany in the 1960s. That was when we started offering Halloween items. In fact, Franco gave Rubies their first order for a dozen Witch hats.
When my grandfather Sam died in 1975, my father became president.
Speaking of Rubies, my father’s right-hand man was a salesman named Sol Pritt. There’s a known story that Sol and one of the Beige brothers [ed. note: the Beige family owned Rubies], would race, with cars full of samples, to see who would get to the customers first. My sister, Carole Crist, and I met with Howie Beige years later and laughed and reminisced about this.
When did the company start selling wigs, which is a big part of your business today?
Sol Pritt, back in the ‘70s, on a buying trip to China, found one of our amazing wig suppliers, who we still do business with today! Nobody was selling packaged wigs back then; Franco was the first company to do this.
My husband Dean Powell is a talented photographer, and my father called us up saying, “We’re going to make wig packages. Dean is going to photograph the wigs on models. We’re going to print an insert card, and put them in a poly bag.” My father Bob Oumano, singlehandedly brought the packaged wig item into the Halloween industry, which is now a huge category for Halloween year after year.
When we started the Franco wig line, my father said, “Okay, Michele, we’re going to call the line ‘Michele's Wig Collection.’” My father Bob had the inspiration to know that this wig category would change the industry. And here’s a funny story: My father misspelled my name on the insert cards! He called it ‘Michelle's Wig Collection’ with two Ls in Michelle, but there's only one L in my name. I spent years fixing all these wig packages with the wrong spelling!
When did Franco get into the costume business?
For many years Franco was a distributor for Rubies licensed costumes and RG Costumes. But then one day, in 1980, my father said, “Michele, we're going to make an Alien Robe and it's going to be our costume.” That was the beginning of Franco getting into the costume business with a proprietary line. Going forward the costume styles were our designs. My younger sister Carole and I were involved with the business by then, and we developed countless costumes together during those early years.
My dad was an amazing salesman. He’d call his favorite customers, like Claudia from Halloween Adventure, and say, “Claudia, we just got a new latex owl that hoots. (He would then hoot like an owl.) You have to buy this.” He would not let her off the phone until she agreed to buy a dozen pieces.
But my father wasn’t just a salesman – he helped start so many people in the Halloween business. When things got financially rough, he would help many struggling retailers get back on solid ground. My dad was very supportive of his retail customers, because he understood, if they went under, who would he sell to?
The Halloween industry exploded in 1970s and 1980s, when adults became interested in dressing up for the holiday. During these early days, my father Bob and Franco were the main suppliers for Party City, Halloween Express, Spirit Halloween, formerly Spencers Gifts and countless others. Franco was instrumental in creating what a retail store looks like today.
Sadly, my father passed away in 2000. He was just 77, a little too young. My father loved Franco and came to the office every day, right up until two months before he passed.
Tell me a little about your own background.
I went to Rhode Island School of Design, and earned a BFA in Graphic Design. After graduation I worked for Vogue Magazine. Then, I was the art director for Southwest Airlines Magazine. I also was an art director at Revlon. All of those years working outside our company just made me stronger.
When my father passed, Carole was more involved in the business than I was at that time. She became the president, and I became the vice president of Franco. We continued on. My mother Margaret became the owner of the company, but did not run the day-to-day operations. My sister and I continued to steer the ship that was Franco.
In 2008 my mother Margaret passed away. We continued running Franco, and in 2010 we celebrated a hundred years of business. At the Houston Halloween show, we hosted a huge Centennial Party, inviting all of customers to celebrate with us. It was really fun! We were very proud that Franco had made it to 100 years.
In 2012, my sister Carole, living in Florida at the time, and I decided to part ways. We officially launched our separate companies at the Houston Halloween show in 2013. I launched Costume Culture by Franco and Carole started Goddessey.
So Costume Culture by Franco is a separate company from Franco American Novelty Company?
Yes, but the Halloween business is in my DNA, and I consider Costume Culture by Franco to be a continuation of Franco American Novelty Company. I acquired my sister’s company, Goddessey, in 2017, when she decided to leave the business.
How do you decide what new products to develop?
I'm a creative person. I see wigs and costumes everywhere I go. That’s just who I am. For example, I have a Surfer Wig that was inspired by a waiter in Florida. I was like, “Oh my God, your hair is so cool. Can I take a picture of your hair? I'm going to make a wig.” He was super nice and he let me do it.
Following a Party City meeting in 2017, my team and I sat down for lunch at a diner. A man walked in with a man bun and I said, “Oh my God, that’s my next wig.”
It’s my company and my creative energy goes directly into every new Halloween line that we create. We come out with a unique new line of costumes and wigs every year. I consider Costume Culture a curated Halloween company because I’m not a copycat. I don’t copy what’s out there ever. I’m inspired by popular trends, current events, what’s happening in music and movies. We also have a very good line of accessories. So, if you want something original and on trend, look to Costume Culture by Franco. We work very hard to be ahead of the trends!