A designer whose sequined and rhinestone jackets have landed on Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Elton John has planted his flag on Magazine Street. Any Old Iron, the maximalist fashion label owned by Andrew Clancey, opened its first Louisiana location on September 1 in New Orleans' Lower Garden District, occupying a 1,250-square-foot storefront at 1900 Magazine St.
The shop marks just the brand's second permanent U.S. location, joining its existing Nashville storefront, according to nola.com. Clancey, who owns Any Old Iron, told the outlet that New Orleans offers more freedom for people to dress up than many other cities, a cultural fit that helped push him toward opening a brick-and-mortar shop in the city. The new location features neon signage and a newly installed LED dance floor, the kind of theatrical retail environment that has become a hallmark of the brand.
Clancey's path to Magazine Street began far from Music Row or the Lower Garden District. As a teenager, he worked at his family's scrapyard in England, a business with roots stretching back to 1872, according to AMF Magazine. The brand's unusual name nods to both that scrap-metal history and a 1911 Old English music hall song celebrating sartorial dandyism, the outlet reports. Clancey later moved to New York to pursue fashion styling before launching Any Old Iron there, then relocated the business to Nashville in October 2014 to tap into the city's expanding music and stage-performance industry.
From Music Row to a Global Stage
Once established on Music Row, the brand built a celebrity clientele spanning genres. Beyoncé has worn a Clancey rhinestone jacket and other Any Old Iron pieces, while Elton John has worn his sequined designs, per nola.com's reporting. Taylor Swift featured one of Clancey's sparkling capes in a music video, and separately, television host Jonathan Van Ness wore the designer's signature rainbow sequin cape in Swift's 2019 video for “You Need To Calm Down,” according to the brand's own Facebook page. Cher and Lady Gaga have also worn Any Old Iron clothing, the same nola.com report notes.
The brand's celebrity credentials extend across genres as well, with the Any Old Iron site listing Cardi B, Ozzy Osbourne, Miranda Lambert and the Jonas Brothers among performers who have chosen its designs, according to Any Old Iron. Clancey has also worked with B. Åkerlund, described as an avant-garde Swedish stylist, sending her a collection made entirely of sequins, the article states. Behind the scenes, Any Old Iron does much of its sequin work in India, where Clancey travels several times a year, and completes its designs in-house before production overseas.
A Louisiana Connection Sealed the Deal
The push into New Orleans traces back to a charity fashion show. Any Old Iron partnered with Fleur de Bra for its annual charity fashion event at Hotel St. Vincent in October 2025, an evening that reportedly drew 300 to 400 people. Fleur de Bra works with breast cancer survivors and raises money for reconstructive surgery, according to the Fleur de Bra Facebook page. After that showcase, Clancey decided New Orleans had a real market for his designs and sent a text message to his longtime business partner, Christopher Melton, proposing a New Orleans store, per nola.com. Melton previously partnered with Clancey to shift the brand from styling toward retail.
Clancey's fiancée, Laura Citron, also helped bridge the brand to Louisiana. A native of Broussard, Citron has a bold-dressing business, according to a Facebook post relaying reporting from The Acadiana Advocate. Citron has dressed Lainey Wilson and members of Greta Van Fleet and Little Big Town, per nola.com's account.
Mardi Gras Prints and a Louisiana Exclusive
To mark the New Orleans debut, Any Old Iron designed collections exclusive to the location, including a voodoo doll design, a Mardi Gras camouflage print and a pattern featuring New Orleans icons, according to nola.com. The store offers both elaborate sequin work and conventional suit tailoring, with custom pieces accounting for about a quarter of the business and priced the same as off-the-rack designs. At any given time, the brand is working on roughly two dozen custom jobs, the outlet reports.
Across its business, Any Old Iron derives about 75% of sales from in-person shopping, with the remainder coming from online orders, per the same nola.com report. Clancey said he wanted each of his stores to offer a different experience rather than a carbon-copy layout, and he is already eyeing further growth. He plans to consider an expansion into the French Quarter if the right space becomes available, according to nola.com.
Joining a Busy Retail Corridor
Any Old Iron's arrival adds to a wave of specialty retail expansion along Magazine Street. Local coverage has also noted the corridor's retail momentum, as Hoodline previously covered. The Merchants Association also hosts major shopping draws along the strip, including the “Art for Art's Sake” event every October and the “Champagne Stroll” every May, per NewOrleans.com.
The multi-use building at 1900 Magazine St., near the St. Andrew Street intersection, has long combined ground-floor retail with residential units above. Now the storefront below houses what Any Old Iron describes as sparkly clothes for sparkly people, giving Magazine Street shoppers a taste of the maximalist glamour that has already made its way onto some of music's biggest stages.
