Reger's friend Nathan Carrico designed Emily in 1991 for a skateboard company in Santa Cruz, where Cosmic Debris was born. In his Santa Cruz garage (and later an artist warehouse in San Francisco) Reger created the designs, and with Matt Reed brought them into the fashion world by creating t-shirt designs that captured the essence of this mysterious young girl with 4 black cats. Since then, Cosmic Debris has grown into a multi-million dollar firm with dozens of employees. Cosmic Debris has most recently moved its operations to Berkeley, California, and plans to open an Emily retail store there soon. With the momentum of mainstream success, several comics about Emily have also been made. Key creative people over the years (designers, graphic artists, illustrators), who have worked with Reger's Cosmic Debris design house are Buzz Parker, Brian Brooks, Grace Fontaine, Liz Baca, Noel Tolentino, Fawn Gehweiler, Jessica Gruner, Adele Pedersen and Nicomi "Nix" Turner. Rob Reger remains the key creative force behind the brand, and Buzz Parker is the key illustrator for the comic books and website.