By Susanna Borio
Specialised in colourful, handmade and beaded vegan fashion accessories full of positive affirmations, Neon Army aims to spread a joyful attitude towards life.
Ranging from Headbands, to bags, light-weight statement earrings, face masks and even multi colour makeup brushes, the brand has all your accessories needs covered!
This 22nd of June the brand will celebrate their one-year anniversary and having hosted pop ups in Harvey Nichols, John Lewis, Fenwick and Soho House, Neon Army is just getting started.
They have also been a part of the charity fashion show hosted by Mark Hayes, one of the UK’s leading fashion stylists, and Paula Moore, fashion director, stylists and more.
We spoke with Claire Rodrigues Lee, the founder, about how the brand got started and what’s next to come!
What inspired you to create Neon Army?
Neon Army was a lockdown baby!
I am, by trade, a professional songwriter and I write JPop, Kpop and CPop so when COVID hit the first place to shut down with Asia, so my career went on hold.
I started shopping online, like the rest of the world, looking for fashion but I couldn’t find things that I loved so I started making my own and upcycling my existing wardrobe by adding patches and beads and painting on jackets.
When measures began to lift, I would go out and people would comment about how much they loved my pieces!
I was thinking about doing it a clothing line, initially, but I felt that if you want to be inclusive with clothing lines you have stock every size and it’s obviously a huge undertaking to start a clothing brand, then I thought accessories are inclusive.
I decided to inject all the inspiration I was putting into my clothes into accessories: in bags, headbands etc. and it transpired from there.
After that I started looking at drawing designs and then researching manufacturers and it went from there!
What has been your favourite part about starting the brand?
I think my favourite thing has been building something unexpected. I really didn’t expect to do this, now that I’ve started I love it!
My favourite thing about this, is that I’ve also been able to spread a positive message through the brand and also being able to use the brand for good.
We have charity bracelets I designed especially for a children’s charity called ‘Spread a Smile’ and I’m also involved in ‘Future Dreams’ the breast cancer charity. I just participated at their fashion show on March 5th where I hosted a pop up shop and was able to contribute to the fundraising.
But my favourite thing of all is being with customers!
Because it’s an online business it’s pretty much just sitting behind a desk running a business so being able to have these pop ups and meet the customers is so important to me.
I get to see how they engage with the brand and the products that they gravitate towards, so I know when I’m making future products which ones are going to work and which ones are more popular than others as well!
Could be considered free market research I guess! At the end of the day the customers are what is going to make the business successful and if I’m not listening to them then what’s the point? Yes, I’m creating things that I love but I have to think of what my customers love as well.
What are your biggest wishes for the future and next steps?
So biggest wishes for the future… obviously I want the brand to be successful! I’d also love to do more positive things with the brand, more charity work.
It’s very important for me to give back. From a business perspective I’d love to get it into retail stores as well as independent boutiques , I have some meetings in place but can’t say too much at this point! Don’t want to jinx anything!
Let’s talk about you new bag! What was the inspiration behind it?
So the front of the bag is inspired by what my customers love the most about the brand, the positive affirmations, the evil eye, the beading and the positive message.
I wanted the bag to represent the way you feel when you go on holiday. You feel great, you feel happy, you feel relaxed! The whole point of this bag is that it doesn’t just have to be a beach bag, you can use as a shopper, for everyday or as a work bag. It’s a reminder to live your life happy!
On the back of the bag, we also have the number 222, which runs across our products. This is an Angel number that means you’re on the right path, you’re making all the right choices and are exactly where you’re supposed to be. So, it’s a really positive message!
It’s a very special number that has followed me throughout my journey, which I started 11 years ago and this number has followed me and whenever I see it I know I’m on the right path!
The brand is only just getting started, look out for what’s to come and follow them on social media!
The brand is only just getting started, keep an eye out for new collections and follow them on social media!
The Curve Magazine 