Neon Island
TOMAS, Eunice M. (2014-10673)BA 101 THVDr. Dave G. CentenoCase Draft29 November 2016Neon IslandIntroduction        Neon Island is a fashion brand established by best friends Aira Medina and Chi Gibbs for the advocacy of celebrating everything local. The brand is known for offering unique hand-drawn patterns on trendy and classic wardrobe pieces ranging from swimwear to sweaters. What sets it apart from other fashion brands is that its products are 100% made in the Philippines. Moreover, the fun, tropical branding of Neon Island has been established through the duo’s social media accounts long before the clothing line was launched. Since then, Neon Island has been banking on its dynamic online presence as the main driver for its growth and success. BackgroundAira Medina and Chi Gibbs are childhood friends who later went to college together and became teachers in the Philippines. Both share a passion for fashion, and so they spent their free time taking classes in pattern-making and sewing at The Fashion Institute of the Philippines. On weekends, the friends would design clothes together and post these on social media. Before long, their friends started to notice their creations and persuaded them to turn their hobby into a business.
Aira and Chi first retailed their designs at a local weekend bazaar in 2013, when their social media accounts had already been gaining hundreds of followers. A massive crowd came to the event, thrilled to purchase the pieces that were posted by the duo online. Their stocks sold out in a flash. The two then decided to quit their day jobs and to manage their fashion line full-time. Neon Island–the fashion brand built for the modern Filipina–was born. Then 23-year-olds Aira and Chi were initially clueless when it came to actual business operations, for neither of them have a background in business. Moreover, they had limited savings. Instead of discouraging the duo, these reasons pushed them to be as resourceful as they can. Hence, they relied on social media to get the attention of their target market: “confident, feisty, adventurous women” who follow trends in fashion and, like the founders themselves, are social media-savvy. Aira and Chi draw inspiration from their travels in exotic locales. For instance, the first bag collection of Neon Island featured local destinations such as Bohol, Pampanga, and Boracay. The dynamic duo also periodically goes on these working vacations, or “workations”, to do research on what their customers want and to intelligently combine these findings with Neon Island’s branding and aesthetic. Years later, Neon Island became one of the fastest-growing homegrown fashion brands in the Philippines. It owed its success to two core strengths: the the founders’ in-depth consumer understanding and their knack for social media management. Founders Aira and Chi successfully branded Neon Island as “an online destination for tropical, fun, and classy pieces”.