, me coming from a binge drinking angle, and Lily from a recovering alcoholic angle so we're opposite ends of the scale, but we became friends through TikTok, and then we got talking about how for us, in our age group, there's absolutely nothing out there for us to do in the sober community other than like walks or coffee dates, really recovery based things but we just wanted to do things that were still fun, like going out, partying, but not be made to feel funny about it.
Flamingo AF was then born, a brand they say has a quirky name with a double meaning, and is for those who want to join a “flamingo flock”, where fun is first and foremost, and which is based in the North, unlike most sober events they see.The pair say most sober events are women focused but they want to be inclusive to men too. Pictured: the Flamingo AF retreat
Wanting to do something big to get the brand going, the pair have organised “the launch party of 2023”, featuring performers, a photo booth, vegan food vendors, and they hope “the king of sobriety” – Russell Brand, who has openly battled with addiction in the past.
Lily commented: “We felt a bit silly at first, and we did have people going what are you doing this for, he’s not going to respond, but we continued doing these videos, and then we got an email back, so started thinking, ‘oh my god, this might actually happen’ and then we got a video from him and we were absolutely gobsmacked.”