Coming up with names for our socks was one of the more challenging parts of developing Neon Bandits. Sammy and I both knew that generic names weren’t going to cut it and simply having product identifiers like “NB001” as style names, especially at the outset of building our brand, didn’t have the personality that we were going for. Being boring never jibed with who we are as a brand. As such, we went back to the basics (and not in the new “basic” way.) As I’ve mentioned, Sammy and I grew up in a close-knit family, so going back to basics meant kickin’ it old school…
The first sock name that we came up with was “The Ozz.” And contrary to what you may think when hearing “Oz”, the name has nothing to do with the “Wizard of Oz.” Instead, the sock is named after our family dog, Ozzi who passed away suddenly just a few weeks before we launched. Ozzi was an energetic, loyal and loveable dog- and was the poster child for being “man’s best friend”.
Now, growing up, Sammy slept in the room right next to mine. And every night, I would be kept up by her (not) so loveable frog, Flippy. Sammy got this frog as a tadpole from the a local toy store when she was five years old, and despite our parents best efforts, the thing lived to be 15 years old! Note: this is NOT normal for grow-a-frogs. And thus, we decided on to further immortalize Flippy by naming our branded tube “The Flip”.
And last but not least, “The Dawson,” and no we’re not paying homage to Dawson’s Creek, but rather Dawson Drive, the street that Sammy and Dan grew up on. Known for producing some of the greatest athletic talent and brainpower on the East Coast, “The Dawson” nods to the neighborhood where we grew up.
So, even though things may appear to be a bit random, we promise there is meaning behind (most of) what we do.
Did any of the names inspire you? Share the story and be sure to #GrabAPair of your favorite Neon Bandits.