Giveaway And Q&A: Necklush

© Necklush

Recently, I was able to interview Troy and Stephano, the brains behind Necklush. Necklush is an amazing clothing, and accessories company that creates items unlike any you have seen before. Each Necklush product has an amazing level of energy and creativity. *Scroll to the bottom to enter to win a product from Necklush.

1. What inspired you to create Necklush?

We love to create things, and we are very inspired by the Cut-up method that Byron Gyson and William Burroughs came up with, where they take random writings, cut them up, reassemble and then transcribe the new directions the words will take them. This method we like to use in all the art and music that we create as well.  Bowie was big into this as well.  When we started working on our own designs we came up with Necklush out of an experiment with fabric and color and we have never looked back. It's a great never ending experiment because we have the ability to always come up with new patterns/color within the Necklush design.  

2. Why did you decided to name your company "Necklush"?

The word "Necklush" was created over Margaritas and tacos at our favorite Mexican spot in Queens, NY. We were trying to come up with something fun, campy, and cool.  We think we nailed it!  We don't take ourselves too seriously, so we think the name reflects that notion. Most people love it, but we have heard some cranky responses from time to time... so funny!

3. I understand that Necklush donates portions of its profits to The Gerson Institute. Why did you choose this Nonprofit organization to donate to?

We always wanted to find a great place to donate to. One night we saw a documentary on the Gerson Institute, specifically Max and Charlotte Gerson, and we were hooked!  As huge believers in natural healing by way of juicing and natural foods, we thought we found a really wonderful place to help. You should check out all the good work at http://gerson.org, they are very nice people, and very personable.  We feel like our donations go someplace real, and not into some giant vacuum. Be sure to check them out!

4. In addition to Necklush, you also have a blog called "This Art Is Yours", what other projects are you currently working on?

Yes, when we can we like to find great stuff and post it on This Art Is Yours!  We also find cool stuff and post it on our Twitter feeds for our blog @thisartisyours and @necklush ... So many great curators out there with wonderful blogs... we like to help spread the word about these sites when we can. In addition to our little blog we also are photographers. You can see some of our work at http://troymattisonhicks.com --we take all the model picks for Necklush, which is really fun.  When we can we make music as PAANO and as Zelium Quang.  Currently we are working on some new videos for ZQ.

5. How long does it take to design and develop a Necklush scarf?

Designs can take a while, we experiment with different color and prints... we do a lot of cutting and assembling patterns to see what looks good. We love to experiment!  Our most successful designs are the product of grand experimentation! It's best to go forward without preconceived notions, and more fun to find success in strange mistakes.

© Necklush

6. Necklush is a beautiful scarf, how do you think it has contributed to today's fashion?

Thank you!  Well we hope we are contributing!  But our main pleasure zone is the one we have created with our clients, we really love the feedback we receive about our accessories.  It means a lot to us! I think that is why Twitter has been so cool, we really have great conversations with our clients and people that dig Necklush from all over the world.  It's a great, fantastic time to have a brand and a business!

7. What advice do you give to young entrepreneurs? 

Start something.  Go for something, don't wait.  You might find that you are not doing the "right" thing, but by then you will be in the mode of trying everything. And even if you have to shift into a different direction, it won't matter, because you will be learning the whole time! Don't ever think you know anything, always be willing to learn from everyone. Concentrate on customer service, communication. Do the absolute best you can, and when you mess up, admit it, fix it, don't avoid it.  Also read all you can about marketing, business, and self motivation books.  We suggest you get an audible.com account and listen to one of the top books in those categories every month. You can always learn something from them!

8. Would you like to partner with another artist in the future to create a product?

We like the idea of cross promotional marketing, perhaps in the future we might link up with someone that way. We will have to see!

9. In addition to the Necklush, I noticed that you also design and sell bracelets. In the future what other products do you hope to create?

Yes, our "Lushlets"... they are cool, we just started with those and plan to keep evolving them over the summer.  We also are working on purse tassels which are very cool! And we have been doing some nice bib necklaces, which we plan on continuing. I am sure there are some other interesting designs coming thru the ether! We have to just keep the channels open to the universe and see what comes our way!

© Necklush, Not Quite White Necklush w/ Black Geometric Print

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