Meet Nennen + Poyo, Harajuku’s Latest Sister Act
Move over Hadids, here comes the unstoppable Nennen and Poyo! These sisters have a passion for fashion and put a contemporary twist on their uber-colourful, retro style. Nennen and Poyo regularly grace Vogue and Vogue Runway, and they co-edit their very own fashion platform called Neeon, which launched this February. The COMM spoke to Nennen and Poyo on how their sisterly bond influences their love for fashion!
Please introduce yourselves.
Nennen: I’m Nennen—the younger sister! I’m a 16-year-old, second-year high school student and I co-edit an indie magazine called NEEON with my sister.
Poyo: I’m the older sister, Poyo! I’m an aspiring manga artist and I co-edit NEEON with my sister.
How did you both discover vintage fashion? Has it always been something you two enjoyed together?
When we graduated from middle school and high school, respectively, we dyed our hair and that led to our fashion awakening. We wanted a local, a shop that we could regularly go to for fashion, so we looked on Instagram and discovered Santo Bun no Ichi. When we actually went… It was full of amazing clothes! That was when we first learned about second-hand fashion which in turn sparked off our love for it.
You are both very stylish! How did you develop your individual styles?
Poyo: The first thing we were inspired by was our trips to Harajuku. Whenever we saw a person and thought “That person looks friggin’ awesome!”, we’d try out different combinations of that style to figure out [what our individual versions would be]. Nennen would wear it one way, but then I would want to add more vintage to the look… maybe with an oversized feel etc. And in that way we developed our individual styles.
I think another big thing was finding clothing shops that we individually liked. We haven’t really been able to go out much lately, so we’ve been referencing FRUiTS and Instagram for styles that we, respectively, find cute.
What do you love the most about each other’s style? Do you think your individual styles contrast or complement each other?
Nennen: Poyo’s short, so vintage clothes look lovely on her. Her hair colour, favourite colour and fashion sense all contrast mine, and I think our styles really complement each other really well.
Poyo: I’m so jealous of Nennen because she’s tall and has a great figure, so fitted clothes look great on her!
What are the biggest differences in your styles?
Nennen: There is a height difference, so the biggest difference in our styles comes from our co-ords because we style according to our heights. This is just something we’ve also noticed since getting into fashion, but there seem to be more differences in our lumps and bumps than we thought.
The first thing people see is the 15cm height difference. But, there are also a lot of differences in our preferences. I like clothes that show off my figure, while Poyo likes loose-fitting clothes that hide it. My hair colour is on the cooler side, Poyo’s is warmer etc. The differences in our body shapes and preferences have had a positive impact on our styles.
What would you like to borrow from the other’s wardrobe?
Nennen: I’m really jealous of Poyo’s long hair because she can do a lot with it like pigtails and plaits.
Poyo: I tend to use the same colour throughout when I put together an outfit, but Nennen uses really interesting colours that I never would’ve thought of combining in her co-ords, so I’m sometimes influenced by that.
What do you think is the best thing about having a common interest?
We can talk about fashion together. We enjoy fashion together, but sometimes we struggle with fashion together. Through fashion we have really developed a strong sisterly bond. We are essentially opposites outside of fashion, so we’re really happy that it is a hobby we have in common.
Tell us a bit about NEEON. How did you start it?
NEEON started out as us just posting on Instagram about the things that we came across. On 25 May, we finally launched a print magazine called Jelly. A year ago, we hadn’t even contemplated putting together a magazine, but we wanted to tell younger generations about what was so great about Harajuku—and Jelly was launched.
What do you hope to achieve in the future for NEEON?
We want more people to know about NEEON, and it would be great to be stocked in the local shops… We want to be nationwide!
What is it like to work on creative projects together?
We are sisters so we can have the conversations that are difficult to have with strangers, and we can argue (in a good way) with each other too. Great things come out of our clashes, so we want to carry on arguing and carry on creating amazing things!
Poyo, you have “I’m always with my sister” written on your Instagram bio. Can you think of a time when the two of you had to be apart from each other?
We have been apart because of school trips, but I don’t think I have been away from Nennen for more than three days since she was born. I think I’d be okay if I had one week by myself, but I’d probably be a bit sad if it was any more than that because we both like talking and I wouldn’t have anyone to fight with. Lol.
What are your goals and dreams?
Nennen: I want to be an artist. My dream is to become a one-of-a-kind in the way I express myself with my singing, dancing and style. I want to communicate who Nennen is in whatever form that takes, and I would like to be a human being who is always challenging herself.
Poyo: I’ve wanted to be a manga artist since I was a child, so I’m working towards that.
Nennen’s Instagram | Poyo’s Instagram | NEEON
Introduction and questions by Vania.
Images courtesy of Nennen and Poyo.