Two Galway sisters light up London with neon dream

When super model Kate Moss set up her own talent agency last month she wanted the name, KM, up in lights – or up in neon to be exact. Garish, gorgeous neon is having a moment, as fashion luvvies might say, and that's thanks in part to Bag&Bones, a London company set up by Irish sisters Gigi and Cavanagh Foyle whose lit-up flamingos, lightening bolts and slogans have made neon cool again - literally.

The tube lighting has always had a seedy-romantic charm but its composition, gas inside glass, made it too delicate and dangerous for domestic use. Bag&Bones has come up with an LED version that looks as good as the real thing, but is easily handled, cost effective and can be plugged in and switched on at home.

After less than five months in business, the company has notched up an impressive list of mostly fashion clients including Alexander McQueen, Grazia Magazine and the Wilderness Festival in Oxford.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 3

Now the sisters from Clifden in Galway are looking to set up a second outlet in Dublin, and will open a Christmas pop-up shop in Temple Bar next month.The plan is to open a permanent store in Dublin in the new year.

Meanwhile though the sisters are busy keeping up with online demand for its off the peg neon art pieces which cost around €205 to €500 and customised slogans that sell for up to €1,000 each. They’re also working a range of mini pieces – lightening bolts and hearts – that will sell for about €55 each.

The Foyles grew up in Clifden, Co Galway, but Gigi studied science in Edinburgh before moving to London a decade ago. Cavanagh studied law and currently works as a solicitor in Dublin, designing neon pieces at night, but she is planning work full time at Bag&Bones in the new year.

"We've been very lucky because there's not many people doing what we do at the moment," says Gigi Foyle, who first fell in love neon on frequent visits to Gods Own Junk Yard in Hackney in east London. " I just loved it, and I came across examples in the Scandi countries and Australia too, but there wasn't anyone doing LED neon in the UK so we started it." In fact the Foyles planned Bag&Bones for almost two years, before winning their first commission, the Wilderness festival in Oxford, where their nightclub-style lighting was an instant hit on social media.

The sisters now import the off-the-peg signs but they make the customised pieces themselves, working from lines of poetry, peoples’ pet names and favourite sayings.

“The Kate Moss commission is the best so far,” says Gigi. “It’s pretty amazing as I love her style.”

Bag&Bones ’ pop up store will be at the The Library Project, Temple Bar on 2 and 3 December