The Story of Néant
Néant Glass was founded by myself, Kei LaVonne, in February of 2019.
I have been an active been a member of the international EGL/J-Fashion community since 2006, and an artist from even earlier than that. Dabbling in costume making, clothing design, painting, and music, nothing really stuck in terms of creative passion for me until I began working with stained glass. I always had an interest in stained glass, as I have been absolutely enamored with gothic architecture and religious art since a very young age, but assumed it was a craft well over my head and would never be feasible for me to try.
In 2018, I went through some major changes in my life which caused me to free up a lot of time and an extra room in my house. This was an extremely difficult time for me, so to fill this void (this personal néant), I took a leap of faith and tried my hand at the craft I always felt was too elusive for me and was instantly in love with it. I started with just a cheap DIY kit, and within a year had filled that entire spare room with work tables, specialized equipment, and stacks of stained glass sheets. Néant is the French word for emptiness, or the void, and learning to love a craft so much and truly feel like I found where I belonged in the artistic world for the first time and helped me navigate out of my own personal void, and allowed me to see through to something better, just like the transparency of glass allows us to look through to other things.
In the early days I was making only art/home decor pieces inspired by pop culture, and had never sold my artwork before. I loved the craft so much that nearly everything I made was gifted to a loved one so I'd have a reason to start something new, and by the end of 2019 I began practicing jewelry making, as I felt there was a void that existed in the EGL community. There were many beautiful clothing designs and wonderful indie brands, but so few accessory makers that specialized in making jewelry specific to the aesthetics of our community, so I felt a calling to step up and make something that fit what I felt was lacking.
The first jewelry pieces were gifted at a Halloween party hosted for my local community and were simple plain glass coffin rings. I did not expect the enormous positive reception these gained, or that anyone would want to pay for my small work, but many people requested to purchase what I made and I decided to try my hand at it. My first launch on Etsy was a made-to-order of the plain rings. I expected to sell a handful, but in a couple of hours received over 50 orders and had to cut off the ordering window, as I was afraid I couldn't make so many at once. Within a month the items were made and shipped, and an outpouring of requests came for more. In December of 2019, I had samples made for the entire MTO coffin line and launched again, with massive reception and tripling the number of orders from the first round. It felt like a fever dream!
2020 came and we all know what happened then. The world crashed, I was desperately unhappy with nearly all aspects of my life, and I would do anything to jump ship for a fresh start, and so I did. On another leap of faith, I quit my thankless, miserable job, sold the majority of my belongings, and moved near the mountains of Kentucky. I settled in a quiet part of town and went to work. By May of 2020, I had launched my full brand. Custom branding had been commissioned for my logos and marketing, I spent weeks building and testing my website, and I found passion in a new product: wearable floral shadowboxes. Each morning I would go for a walk in the beautiful town I lived in, or would escape to the mountains before sunrise so I could hike to the summit and watch the scenery come to life. It was so breath-taking and new to me, and I harvested wildflowers each day. These flowers went into the first floral coffins as a memorial to my old life now dead, and a commemoration of my new life. For the rest of the year, I worked on honing in my craft, developing my place in the community and artistic world, and learning what I was truly capable of. The move south was the change I needed to grow.
April 2021 came around and I decided it was time to branch out and vend in person. I joined the Oddities and Curiosities Expo as a vendor and began travelling the United States to promote my work and spread what I loved so dearly, going as far as San Francisco to New York City. Néant quickly became my sole source of income and for the first time in my life I felt I was truly thriving. Over the next couple of years Néant only grew, but life still had its hard times. I lost my biggest supporter, my father, to Covid, I struggled with harassment and stalking from an abusive former partner, and I lost some friendships and gained others. I moved three more times, I struggled with my mental health and self-image, but the one constant that always kept me going was Néant and my love and pride of everything I do.
March of 2023 marked another massive milestone for Néant Glass. The Japanese fashion house and select shop Atelier Pierrot reached out to form a partnership that was unlike any they had done before, and certainly unlike any I had done before. I became one of the few, honored designers to join Atelier Pierrot's select shop family, and Néant Glass pieces are now available to purchase in Yokohama, Osaka, Shinjuku, and Harajuku, Japan. I worked with them on an exclusive design, and felt how surreal it was to be solidified as a pilar of the EGL community- a community I had been a member of for over half my life at that point. I worked with more independent designers, sold and shipped to customers in my 35th country, and later that year was invited as a guest of honor to my first international event in Brno, Czech Republic.
I didn't intend for this blog post to be my life story, but I couldn't help but look back and be amazed at all that's happened so far. Just six years into this journey and I've accomplished things I've never dreamed would be possible and know there's more on the horizon. I have so many big plans for the business, and now standing on footing that's stronger than I've ever had, I'm ready to take bigger risks and grow in new ways every day.
Néant saved me.
All of this was possible only because I took control of the void I was in and learned to fill it. Had I not of had something I loved so much to carry me through my darkest times, I'm unsure if I would still be here today. I hope that my passion shines through every piece that I make, and those who own something from me feel the power in what it means to put your entire heart and soul into something when nothing else seems like it's worth living for.
Thank you for being here with me through this journey. Néant Glass couldn't exist without the love and support from everyone I've met along the way.
Cheers to our future, every day is only the beginning 🥂