Is the Platinum Jubilee Pudding fit for a Queen?

This week we’ve been wondering: is it time we take celebrity brands more seriously? Is the Platinum Jubilee Pudding fit for a Queen? And what it’s like to step inside the mind of the late Virgil Abloh.

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Why celebrity brands are no longer just a fad...

Pharrell set the bar high when he broke into fashion. Dr Dre followed suit and disrupted the consumer electronics - with a little help from us. While a lot of others tried and failed throughout the years, a new generation of celebrity brands are building commercial empires. Rhianna’s Savage x Fenty is gaining ground on Victoria Secret’s market share, Harry Styles’ new beauty brand PLEASING is one of the most hyped brands right now, leading the way in psychedelic beauty. Gynweth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop is now a multi-million-dollar business and Frank Ocean’s jewelry brand Homer, is elevating and bringing a new level of coolness to lab-grown diamonds.

So what’s makes this new generation of celebrity brands so successful? It’s that the celebrities themselves are no longer silent, financial backers, or just paid endorsees. They have a talent and have built careers out of building a personal brand and connecting with fan culture. What makes them successful as artists is the same as what makes brands successful at retail. These celebrities have taken their personal brand and applied it to other categories.

Built to be more than just a little extra pocket money – celebrity brands are becoming a main source of income. They're a means of creating financial stability to the stars post-stardom.

Does the Platinum Jubilee pudding take the biscuit or the crown?

Last week was a special week for us here in the UK. Not just because we got an extra public holiday – but because we celebrated the Queen becoming the longest-reigning monarch in our nation’s history.

In celebration of this once-in-a-lifetime Platinum Jubilee, Fortnum & Mason alongside leading British Chefs, ran a nationwide baking competition to find the next Victoria Sponge. Which was a recipe celebrating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee – served at afternoon tea. The brief was relatively simple, it had to have a clear link to the Queen and had to be a recipe for the people so that anyone could recreate it at home. The winning pudding was a Lemon and Amaretti trifle, with a poetic link to the dessert served at the Queen’s wedding. This is nothing like that Friend’s episode where Rachel adds mincemeat as one of the layers. No this is a recipe fit for a Queen. From the first layer of lemon curd swiss roll, to custard, jelly, a mandarin coulis, and amaretti biscuits, decorated with cream and white chocolate shards. The fact that it was also the most ‘instagrammable’ dessert made it a recipe that serves as a sign of the times. We tried it and… gave it our very own royal approval.

This week we review Air Force 1 by Virgil Abloh pop-up in Brooklyn

Luxury, Nike Air Force 1’s and the childlike mind are three words we never expected to hear together. But guess what – this collision of contradictions and juxtapositions really works!

In a warehouse in Brooklyn, NYC all 47 of Virgil Abloh’s interpretations of the Air Force 1 are on display in a spectacular, childlike fashion. What is great about this pop-up is the way it immerses people into the creative mind and vision of Virgil Abloh. Designed as an immersive showcase of the process he would go through when designing, the types of environments he would create in and the types of questions he would ask himself along the way. This offers an experience that is so much more than a product launch, but is a way to experience the world of Virgil’s creative imagination.

In a world where hype-mania is growing toxic and increasingly consumers are buying into your brand over your product, this is the perfect example of how to design a product drop #IRL. It is also a perfect tribute to the late Virgil’s legacy and final project, that does not feel like profiteering – as none of the products on display are available for purchase.

Want to talk Brand Transformation? Email Sam at sam@checklandkindleysides.com.

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