We talk a lot about what Gen Alpha, that hard-to-reach generation born from 2010-2024, really wants. The internet is full of theories. One scroll through TikTok brings up “current Gen Alpha trends for girls,” “what Gen Alpha kids want” and endless attempts to decode what the “cool” kids are actually doing (and saying). Now, a popular children’s retailer is taking a more direct approach by giving them their own shopping destination.
Maisonette was co-founded in 2017 by Sylvana Ward Durrett and Luisana Mendoza de Roccia, who met while working at Vogue. After becoming mothers themselves and finding shopping for children uninspiring, they launched an e-commerce platform stocking a curated collection of kids’ and baby clothing, furniture, decor and more. But their kids are getting older, and the need for tween options became more evident. Enter: the new Neon Rebels platform.
“Many of our core consumers who first shopped at Maisonette for their babies are now raising older kids, and we want to evolve alongside them and support every stage of parenthood,” AJ Nicholas, president of Maisonette, told Fashionista via email.
Photo: Courtesy of Neon Rebels
The data supports it: “Today, over 20% of Maisonette’s active customer base has at least one child aged 7 or older and tween/teen brands [on the site] have grown +30% over the past three years,” she continues. “Launching a dedicated destination for this age group was the natural response to this significant built-in demand.”
The hope is that Neon Rebels becomes a “co-shopping” experience for parents and tweens with items they can both agree on, Nicholas explains. “Most retailers often force families to choose between products that feel either too young or too grown up, which naturally causes friction between parents and kids… [Tweens] are digitally native, form distinct visual tastes earlier, and know exactly what they want,” she says. “However, because they aren’t fully shopping on their own yet, there’s a real need for alignment between kids and parents, which is where Neon Rebels comes in.”
They sure do know what they want. According to PwC’s 2026 Gen Alpha survey, 97% of 7- to 14-year-olds say they have at least some influence over clothing and accessories purchases, with 55% saying they have “a lot” of influence. Nicholas says they “see a massive opportunity to capture value in a largely underserved market,” and recent data puts the global kids apparel market at $226 billion in 2025 and growing to reach $343 billion by 2031.
Photo: Courtesy of Neon Rebels
Neon Rebels features more than 100 global brands, including LoveShackFancy, DL1961 and State on the fashion side, and Yes Day and Erly for beauty. They’re “age-appropriate and premium while genuinely reflecting the trends and interests of older kids,” Durrett tells Fashionista via email.
“Thinking beyond just apparel, we’ve built out every dimension of a tween’s daily routine, from what they pack for school and how they decorate their rooms to every step of their personal care routines,” she adds.
Photo: Courtesy of Neon Rebels
Neon Rebels is for the generation of parents who shopped via Delia’s catalog, so the team brought some of that nostalgia into the platform with wishlists and images of real teens. “There was a real magic in flipping through pages and discovering products that spoke to you,” Durrett says. “We wanted to bring back that same sense of tangible inspiration for Gen Alpha, while channeling the memories of millennial parents’ own tween years.”
Maybe this is a less complicated way to think about what Gen Alpha wants. Like all the generations before them, they’re figuring out what they like in real time. With their parents in the (proverbial) room, Neon Rebels hopes to give them somewhere to do it.
