If you’ve been anywhere near the TikTok FYP or Instagram over the last few years, you’ve seen them. Suede Brooks’ younger siblings? No, that’s not it. We’re talking about Suga and Spice, the TikTok-famous twins who built a massive empire on the back of Y2K aesthetics, high-energy dance clips, and a sort of hyper-feminine, doll-like branding that felt very 2000s-coded. But then things shifted. Specifically, the conversation around the Suga and Spice Playboy collaboration and their subsequent move into adult-adjacent content creators.
It wasn’t just a random photoshoot.
Honestly, the transition felt like a lightning rod for the broader debate about how influencers age out of "teen-friendly" content. For many fans, the twins—whose real names are Hana and Hope Knutzen—represented a specific type of wholesome-yet-edgy Gen Z nostalgia. When they started leaning into more mature branding, including their relationship with the iconic rabbit head logo, the internet basically had a collective meltdown.
The Suga and Spice Playboy Pivot: More Than Just a Photoshoot
People forget that Playboy isn't the same magazine your grandpa hid under the mattress. In the 2020s, it’s a lifestyle brand and a creator platform. When Suga and Spice started aligning with the brand, it was a signal. It was a clear, "we are adults now" flag planted in the ground.
They weren't just taking photos. They were reclaiming a specific type of bimbo-core aesthetic that Playboy pioneered decades ago.
The twins capitalized on the "Bunny" imagery at a time when Playboy was trying to pivot away from its controversial past and toward a creator-led future, similar to how OnlyFans operates. For the Knutzen twins, this meant transitioning from 15-second dance routines to high-glamour, editorialized content that catered to an older audience. Some fans felt betrayed. Others saw it as a savvy business move. If you’re a creator whose entire brand is "being a doll," the leap to becoming a "Playboy Bunny" is actually quite logical, even if it’s jarring for the parents of the kids who first followed them on TikTok.
Breaking Down the Creator Platform Shift
Why did they do it? Money, obviously, but also control.
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Hana and Hope have been vocal about the burnout that comes with the TikTok treadmill. On platforms like TikTok, you are at the mercy of an algorithm that might decide your face is "boring" today. By moving toward the Suga and Spice Playboy ecosystem and their own independent subscription sites, they moved the "ownership" of their audience.
- Platform Independence: They stopped relying solely on brand deals that required them to stay "squeaky clean."
- Aesthetic Alignment: The Playboy brand fits the Y2K, "Mean Girls," and "Barbie" tropes they had already been using.
- Monetization: Direct-to-consumer content (subscriptions) pays significantly better than the TikTok Creator Fund. It's not even close.
Why Everyone Gets the "Controversy" Wrong
Most people think the backlash was just about "going sexy." It wasn't. The real friction came from the speed of the shift. One day they were doing "Get Ready With Me" videos for a Coachella party, and the next, they were the faces of a more adult-centric digital era.
It’s the Miley Cyrus effect, but for the TikTok generation.
The twins have always had a "Spice" side—it's literally in the name. But when you look at the Suga and Spice Playboy era, you see a deliberate attempt to shed the "kids' content creator" label once and for all. It’s a risky move. Usually, when creators go this route, they lose the lucrative deals with mainstream brands like Maybelline or Disney. But Suga and Spice seem to have calculated that the "rabbit" was worth more than the "mouse."
They’ve dealt with a ton of criticism regarding the "twin" aspect of their content too. The internet is a weird place, and the "twin" dynamic in adult-leaning content often triggers a lot of debate about boundaries and fetishization. The twins have consistently navigated this by leaning into the "editorial" and "fashion" side of their shoots, though that hasn't stopped the comment sections from being a total war zone.
The Reality of Influencer Longevity in 2026
Look at the landscape. The stars who started in 2020 are now in their early to mid-20s. They can't keep doing the same dances.
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Suga and Spice are a case study in how to pivot. You might not like the direction, but from a business standpoint, they’ve managed to stay relevant long after most of their 2020-era peers faded into obscurity. They understood that their original audience was growing up with them. Or, more accurately, they realized they could trade a younger, fickle audience for an older, paying one.
The Suga and Spice Playboy connection isn't just about nudity or "scandal." It's about the commodification of the "It Girl." Playboy, in its current iteration, provides a veneer of "legacy" and "prestige" to creators who might otherwise be dismissed as "just TikTokers." It gives them a brand identity that exists outside of a Chinese-owned app that might get banned every other Tuesday.
What Most People Get Wrong About Their Content
There is a misconception that their content is strictly "adult." In reality, a lot of what they do is heavily stylized fashion photography.
- High Production Value: They aren't just taking selfies in a bedroom. Their shoots often involve professional lighting, sets, and high-end styling.
- Irony and Satire: A lot of the Suga and Spice brand is built on a "self-aware bimbo" persona. They know people think they’re airheads. They use that.
- The Suede Brooks Connection: Having a sister who is also a massive fashion influencer helped them understand the industry's inner workings early on. They knew how to protect their image even while "risking" it.
The Business of Being a "Spice" Twin
Let’s talk numbers, or at least the logic behind them. If you have 10 million followers and only 1% of them follow you to a paid platform, you’re still looking at a massive revenue stream. The Suga and Spice Playboy era allowed them to tap into a demographic that has disposable income.
Teenagers don't have credit cards. Adults do.
The move was a diversification of their portfolio. They still do the "Suga" stuff—the outfits, the makeup, the lifestyle vlogs—but the "Spice" side is what funds the lifestyle. It’s a dual-track career. It's basically the modern version of a celebrity having a "family-friendly" movie career and a "gritty" indie career at the same time. Except here, the "indie career" is subscription-based.
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Lessons from the Suga and Spice Brand Evolution
If you’re watching this from the outside, there are a few takeaways that apply to the whole creator economy. First, branding is sticky. Once people see you as "the cute twins from TikTok," they will fight you when you try to change. Second, the "Playboy" name still has a weirdly powerful hold on the cultural imagination. Even in 2026, putting that bunny logo on something changes the conversation.
It makes things "official" in a way a viral tweet doesn't.
The Knutzen twins are smart. They’ve managed to turn a fleeting moment of TikTok fame into a multi-year career by being willing to be the "villains" in some people's stories. They leaned into the controversy of the Suga and Spice Playboy era because they knew that "outrage" is just another word for "engagement."
Actionable Insights for Following the Brand
If you’re looking to keep up with how they are evolving or if you’re a creator yourself trying to learn from their path, here is how you should look at it:
- Observe the Platform Migration: Watch how they use Instagram to funnel people to their more exclusive content. It’s a masterclass in "the funnel."
- Analyze the Aesthetic Shift: Notice how they’ve moved from DIY TikTok lighting to professional, editorial-grade photography. That’s how you increase your perceived value.
- Understand the Niche: They didn't just go "general adult." They stayed within their "doll" and "twin" niche. They didn't break the brand; they just expanded its boundaries.
- Watch the Brand Deals: See which "mainstream" brands still work with them. It tells you a lot about the current tolerance level for "edgy" creators in the corporate world.
The story of the Suga and Spice Playboy era is ultimately about the death of the "wholesome influencer." In a world where everyone is a creator, being "nice" isn't enough. You have to be interesting. You have to be polarizing. And sometimes, you have to put on the bunny ears to make sure everyone is still looking.
Whether they can sustain this for another five years is the real question. But for now, Hana and Hope have proven that they aren't just a flash in the pan. They are businesswomen who know exactly what they are doing, even if they’re doing it in pink marabou heels.
To see where they go next, keep an eye on their independent ventures. They’ve already started moving toward more fashion-forward, "high-art" concepts that move beyond the initial Playboy shock value. The evolution is far from over, and the twins are likely to continue pushing the boundaries of what a "TikTok star" is allowed to be.
Check their official social channels for the most recent updates on their collaborations, as they frequently drop limited-edition merchandise and "magazine" style digital drops that sell out almost instantly. This scarcity model is their new bread and butter. Follow the transition from "influencer" to "media entity" closely—it's the blueprint for the next decade of digital fame.