THE STORY

Claire started wearing a neck strap in 2014 after suffering from pain in her right wrist and arm. To alleviate the pain, she went through physical therapy and started wearing a neck strap. After wearing it for a couple weeks, the pain went way. She progressively stopped therapy but kept the neck strap. Since this day, Claire has never felt pain anymore playing the clarinet.

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When Claire started wearing a neck strap, she felt insecure about wearing one. Indeed, the image of the neck strap in the clarinet community was bad. She recalls that at the time, only injured players would wear one. When she chose to keep wearing it after therapy, she received criticism. Therefore, one year later when she started her group Four Play Clarinet, Claire decided to feature herself playing with a neck strap in their first music video. Today, this video has been watched over 3 millions times all over the world.

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Wearing a neck strap has made Claire's playing much easier. The weight of the instrument is not all put on the right thumb and wrist anymore. She enjoys moving more freely around the instrument and and noticed major improvements in the use of her right hand pinky. The clarinet was not originally designed for children's hands or adults with small hands and Claire's pain came directly from this issue. Claire, who's father is a medical doctor, was from the beginning aware of these different issues but still felt hesitant to wear a neck strap in the long run. 

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In the last few years, Claire has seen more and more clarinetists wearing a neck strap, including some prominent figures. However, she could not find a neck strap that looked like a necklace that could be worn with pride. To make a neck strap that could be worn as statement piece, she teamed up with her brother Ghislain and worked on it for months before coming up with this great design. Each neck strap is handmade from his home in Los Angeles.

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