Loungefly's New Bags Are Inspired By Netflix's Squid Game Piggy Bank And Dalgona Candy Challenge [Exclusive]

Fans of the South Korean Netflix hit "Squid Game" are getting an early Christmas present. Before the second season of "Squid Game" drops on December 26, pop culture fashion company Loungefly is bringing "Squid Game" inspired apparel to the masses in the form of two backpacks.

Just in case you missed the "Squid Game" phenomenon when it premiered back in 2021, allow me to refresh your memory. The series, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for the streamer, imagines a world where 456 players hailing from South Korea are all given an ominous offer: they can compete in a series of children's games (including the titular "squid game," a South Korean game sometimes simply referred to as "squid") to win an astounding amount of money, but players soon realize the game is much more dangerous than they thought. (No, really — they find that out the hard way when, during a game of "red light, green light," anyone who doesn't stop at a red light is summarily executed.) Throughout the show's first season, we follow Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), the 456th player, who ends up triumphing over his fellow contestants ... and who ends up discovering a particularly disturbing secret about the game in the process.

Loungefly

Not long after their "Nightmare Before Christmas" collection arrived in time for Halloween and Christmas, Loungefly is introducing a mini backpack and crossbody themed after "Squid Game," starting with a miniature "Squid Game" backpack inspired by the giant piggybank seen in the series. The golden swine holds the grand prize of ₩45.6 billion (in South Korean won) prize, and it's prominently featured at the very top of the bag, with the notorious pink suit-clad guards circling the bottom of the backpack. Something particularly cool about the piggybank feature is that it's made of PVC, which gives it a signature sheen, and as for the symbols on the guards' masks, they actually glow in the dark.

But wait, there's more!

There's also a crossbody bag, obviously the smaller option of the two in the collection, but it's packed with thoughtful details and references the show's infamous Dalgona candy game, where contestants have a set amount of time to carve one of five shapes out of delicate sugar candy without breaking the shape — or they face severe consequences.

Loungefly

The crossbody bag comes complete with a two-sided piece of "Dalgona candy" with the umbrella symbol (the most difficult one by far) on one side and the triangle on the other. Since it's also in the shape of the tin that houses the candy disks in the series, it really looks like the prop. It also features a detachable coin purse and what Loungefly calls a "die-cut applique of the cutting utensil."

Loungefly

"Squid Game" season 1 is on Netflix now alongside the (sort of baffling) reality show inspired by the series, "Squid Game: The Challenge." The second season of "Squid Game" premieres on December 26, 2024.