Maisonette bets on tweens with launch of neon rebels

FastCompany: When my daughter Ella turned 10, she suddenly had nothing to wear. The rainbow dresses and unicorn prints she’d happily worn from brands like Hanna Andersson and Tea Collection suddenly felt too childish. But when we went shopping for something more grown-up, we found ourselves at brands like Abercrombie and Zara, buying the smallest adult sizes. The clothes weren’t designed for her body, and many of the trends—spaghetti straps, skintight dresses, short-shorts—felt more mature than she wanted. Then one day a small brand called Pleat popped up on my Instagram feed with exactly what we were looking for.

It designs pieces for girls ages 7 to 14, with silhouettes that are feminine without being too tight-fitting, made in fabrics with sophisticated prints. We stocked up. [Photo: Neon Rebels] There was a thriving market for tweens in the 1990s and 2000s, with labels like Delia’s and Limited Too carefully designing clothes for the bodies and tastes of middle schoolers. These mall brands shuttered as e-commerce took off, leaving a glaring hole in the market. But we’re on the cusp of change.

Today, Maisonette—the curated online marketplace that has become a favorite among millennial parents for children’s clothing, toys, and home goods—is betting that tweens represent one of retail’s biggest opportunities. The company is launching Neon Rebels, a dedicated destination for the 7-to-14-year-old demographic that features more than 100 brands across apparel, accessories, beauty, home, and lifestyle, including Pleat, Roller Rabbit, LoveShackFancy, and Pipa skincare. “We wanted to create a really distinct brand and feel for that older kid,” says AJ Nicholas, Maisonette’s president.

“What’s so interesting about this segment is there are two shoppers. There’s the parent who’s ultimately buying, but there’s the kid who’s driving a ton of that influence.” AJ Nicholas (left) and Sylvana Ward Durrett [Photo: Neon Rebels] Millennials now have tweens For Maisonette, the move is a response to customer demand and a natural evolution of the business. It launched in 2017, curating stylish children’s products for millennial parents. But as those original customers have watched their children grow up, they’ve begun asking for something else.

And the business opportunity is significant: Nicholas points to a global children’s apparel market worth roughly $225 billion, with kids 10 and older representing the fastest-growing segment. “Millennials’ kids are now entering their tween years,” says Maisonette cofounder Sylvana Ward Durrett. “The real problem is you need to make sure they think it’s cool. They don’t want to be infantilized. They don’t want Peter Pan collars. They don’t want ‘cute.’ They want to feel older.” But Durrett points out that many brands that tweens gravitate to, like Brandy Melville, often feel too sexy for a middle schooler.

“There isn’t really a market for the intersection between what they want to wear and what parents feel good about them wearing,” she says. That intersection is precisely where Neon Rebels sits. Rather than creating its own clothing line, Maisonette is building a tween marketplace like it did for younger kids. The new section of the site brings together more than 100 brands under one digital roof. The assortment extends beyond apparel into beauty, accessories, room decor, and wellness, reflecting the many ways tweens begin expressing their identities.

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Maisonette's strategic pivot to the tween market represents a significant opportunity in a largely underserved demographic, making it impactful and relevant for brand strategy professionals, while the approach of catering to both parents and children adds a novel twist to traditional marketing strategies.