When Chris Pegula’s wife was pregnant with his oldest son 15 years ago, the actor and soon-to-be stay-at-home dad was dismayed at his lack of options for baby accessories.

“There was no way I wanted to carry around a leopard diaper bag,” he recalled.

Inspired by his limited choices, Pegula created Diaper Dude, a line of masculine diaper bags and totes meant for the modern dad.

Since then, Diaper Dude, headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, has sold more than 350,000 bags, which retail for between $60 and $140.

As sales have grown, so have Pegula’s three children. No longer in diapers, their father now totes around energy bars and a laptop when following them to baseball games. So it seemed natural to broaden the Diaper Dude brand to include products for later-stage dads.

Thus Pegula and business partner Mandy Antoniacci recently launched True Dude, a lifestyle brand selling Diaper Dude products as well as watches, onesies and, eventually, T-shirts and other goods. The firm funnels 10 percent of sales to nonprofit Futures Without Violence to support outreach and education around domestic violence, child abuse and bullying.

The idea, Pegula said, is to celebrate a modern definition of masculinity anchored in respect.

“We want to change the description of what it is to be a dude today,” he said.

– Marni Usheroff