Written for Fashion & Beauty Monitor
Ever since the pandemic, there has been a trend growing that sees fashion and beauty brands teaming up with food and drink brands for cross-category collaborations. Since the shift in purchasing patterns began and the economic climate soured, brands have been having to think far more creatively to lure shoppers and reach new customers.
From Anya Hindmarch to e.l.f, Wagamama to Levi’s – fashion and beauty brands have been dipping their toes into tasty partnerships from the food and drink vertical and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
March 2024 saw PrettyLittleThing join forces with Krispy Kreme to launch an exclusive new range, featuring three branded doughnut designs. Adorned with fast-fashion brand’s iconic pink palette and unicorn motif, the Instagrammable range includes the ‘Pretty Little Unicorn’, ‘Pretty Little Doughnut’ and ‘Pretty Little Sprinkle’.
But this wasn’t the bakery’s first rodeo. Back in August 2023, Hailey Bieber’s cosmetics brand, Rhode, launched its limited edition peptide lip treatment in a shade called Strawberry Glaze – inspired by Krispy Kreme’s Strawberry Glazed Doughnut, which was brought back to the menu to mark the collaboration. The model and entrepreneur even stopped by a Krispy Kreme store in New York to sample the product, whilst singlehandedly reinvigorating the ‘strawberry girl’ aesthetic.
In February of this year, Nail’s Inc partnered up with fast food chain McDonald’s to create a limited-edition collection of nail polishes, stickers and press-ons. The four-piece merch came in quirky themed packaging emblazoned with the golden arches and came in shades such as ‘Gotta Ketchup’ and ‘Big Mac Please’.
This wasn’t the UK-based nail brand’s first foray into food and drink, having launched co-branded and co-licensed collections with Diet Coke, Percy Pigs, Fruit Loops, Magnum and Velveeta over the years.
Beauty brands like Kylie Cosmetics (Harrods Chocolaterie), Etude House and Glamlite (both Hershey’s), Morphe (Coca-Cola), Fenty Beauty (Heytea), Sally Hansen (Mentos), e.l.f. (Chipotle), Hipdot (Reese’s) and Benefit Cosmetics (Starbucks) have been proving that left-field promotional match-ups can drive sales and covetability, whilst earning them media column inches at the same time.
The fashion industry is no exception and has proven an early adopter of the gastronomy trend as well. In 2022, customers were forming long queues down the high street to get their hands on Primark x Gregg’s clothing. The collection sold out at multiple stores nationwide, with items selling on eBay for three times their original price. In fact, the collab was so successful, the brands teamed up for a second drop in July of the same year, and even opened bakeries inside Primark stores. The partnership was discussed by presenters on Heart radio and in The Guardian and on Forbes.
Other great examples include Nike x Ben & Jerry’s, Supreme x Oreo, Forever21 x Taco Bell, Pangaia x Wagamama, Off-White x Arabica and Crocs x Pop Tarts. There has also been a spate of alcohol brands teaming up with fashion labels in the past few years. In August 2023, Glenfiddich tapped designer Priya Ahluwalia to bring Rare Measures by Ahluwalia to market. Following London Fashion Week S/S24, the whisky maker released 150 bomber jackets designer specially for UK bartenders and featured Ahluwalia’s famous wave pattern combined with a map of the original Glenfiddich distillery in Scotland.
Brands that have chosen to think outside the box and reach out to third party partners from other sectors are proving that lateral thinking can expand reach and fuel discussion. In these types of deals, both parties are granted access to each other’s audience, enabling them to get their product in front of entirely new demographics and potential buyers.
Fashion and beauty’s obsession with the food and drink industry in particular seems to harness scarcity marketing tactics – existing within a limited time or temporary sales window only – to position product as rare and exclusive. It is common, also, for luxury or high-end designer labels to join forces with fast food chains in particular, which makes them seem more accessible to the everyman and gets people talking about the potential mismatch in perception. Licensing deals between fashion & beauty brands and the film industry, whilst also popular, don’t appear to gather the same level of media interest or dialogue and ultimately, publicity.
Interestingly, whilst most brand partners should be sought out based on a shared audience, aligned purpose or complimentary touchpoint, the rule book can be thrown out the window when it comes to the food and beverage arena. In fact, in many cases it is as if the more obscure match up, the better.
It could be argued that some of these brands are big enough to not need to try and move the needle with their PR partnerships. But doing something unexpected is likely to have interesting and measurable results that brands can track alongside their more traditional activations. Furthermore, these types of collaborations showcase a more fun, and relatable personality which could help improve brand perception and public image.
Overall this is a really interesting and enduring movement that PR, marketing and communications professionals should keep track of, applying learnings to future campaigns. And, whilst you can't please everyone, minor consumer backlash can be analysed, with feedback applied to subsequent strategy.
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