sweets | In Your Head

seasonal creativity

April 10, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly

We've long been fans of the DIY ethos of People's Pops. With flavors like Raspberries & Basil, Peach & Bourbon, and Cantaloupe & Tarragon — the concept championed seasonal creativity while remaining loyal to their brand.

Launched as a one-day experiment on a hunch in 2008, partners Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell, and Joel Horowitz mark their fourth summer in business with four stores, four flea/farmers market locations across New York City, and the national release of their book People's Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn's Coolest Pop Shop on June 5th.

Our first pop-in (pun intended) occurred at the Chelsea Market in September of 2010 as we rushed from Milk Studios with our pals from butter LONDON during New York Fashion Week. The combination of nectarine + jasmine was almost as clever as the counter constructed out of popsicle sticks.

Power to the pop peeps.

Tags: food, sweets, trends, nyc, popup food, visual merchandising trends

industry wisdom & fashionable content

March 24, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly

We spoke to the team at Atelier 36 about scouting, documenting, and editing trends — stressing the importance of differentiation.

To read more about our catalog of over 12,000 photos or why we won’t be giving away a list of NYC pastry shops anytime soon, click here.

Tags: food, fashion, trends, trendscaping, sweets, new media, promotion

a 24-hour cupcake automat

March 4, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly

{Photo courtesy of Sprinkles}

What is the price of convenience when it comes to satisfying your sweet tooth?

Sprinkles Cupcakes is banking on the solution to your late-night post-bar cravings. The brand will debut the "world's first cupcake automat" this spring in Beverly Hills, CA between Sprinkles Cupcakes and the brand new Sprinkles Ice Cream. Unlike the fresh baguette vending machine, the products will not be baked onsite.

The upscale vending machine, dubbed the magic cupcake ATM by the Huffington Post, will be continuously restocked day and night with freshly baked cupcakes, cupcake mixes, apparel, and pup cakes (cupcakes for dogs). According to twitter, the launch of the 24-Hour Sprinkles in LA is days away.

In addition to the Beverly Hills location, NBC New York reports that three additional 24-hour cupcake automats are in the works for the Big Apple (midtown, downtown and the upper west side). The company currently operates bakeries in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, La Jolla, Newport Beach, Palo Alto, Scottsdale and Washington DC in addition to New York & LA.

We're curious to see how Sprinkles plans to manage the cupcake inventory. God forbid a mom wipes out an ATM of cupcakes on the way to her toddler's birthday party. If the machines can live up to the 24-hour promise, this could be a game changer.

[UPDATED: 3.6.12]

The Sprinkles Cupcake ATM launched today with 600 freshly baked cupcakes and Huffington Post was in Beverly Hills to capture all of the action. Check it out!

The Sprinkles Cupcake ATM via Huffington Post

{source: Huffington Post & NBC New York}

Tags: food, sweets, vending, LA, nyc, SF, Texas, chicago

how sweet is it?

February 24, 2012 | By Shannon Kelly

From fairground carrousel to the pastel pink paradise of an ice cream parlor — Louis Vuitton Artistic Director Marc Jacobs offers up very soft and sickeningly sweet imagery in the Spring Summer 2012 Ad Campaign. We're completely taken by the mouth-watering array of Chantilly-topped sundaes continuing the narrative of the fashion show.

Sadly, a heavy dose of escapism is not in our nature.

Could this be the French version of Serendipity 3 in New York? A reimagined corner of the store of our dreams: La Pâtisserie des Rêves? Or perhaps it's a nod to Fauchon in Paris? The setting in the campaign is keeping us enthralled with Jacobs vision.

Share your ideas on the mystery idealistic ice cream parlor on twitter: @trendscaping

Tags: france, nyc, fashion, food, sweets, campaigns, luxury

countdown to a very Gaga xmas

November 9, 2011 | By Shannon Kelly

Barneys New York has offered up a glimpse of it's collaboration with Lady Gaga.

A "12 Days of Gaga" countdown started today, lasting until November 21 — when Lady Gaga's Workshop will open at the Manhattan flagship. Until then, the retailer will debut a product a day from the workshop, reported Women's Wear Daily.

{photo: Barneys.com}

Today's limited edition product is a hand-decorated cookie with face of Lady Gaga wearing telephone hat for $15.00.

Additional merchandise, according to WWD, includes chocolate “poker face” chips, disco stick lollipops, hair-bow headbands and press-on nails, Roald Dahl books, candy lipsticks and malted milk balls, as well as a $95 Barneys flagship snow globe topped by a Gaga figurine, a handmade chocolate skull for $68 and a claw-like Christmas stocking for $65. Barneys will donate 25% of all sales in the workshop to the Born This Way Foundation.

Barneys entrance on 60th Street will be decorated with a giant neon Gaga monster framing the doors, and the fifth floor is being transformed into a parkland of sculptures with eight stations. “We have a candy shop, which is a sculptural piece that holds the candy; the boudoir, this giant wig that will host all the makeup, fake nails and lipsticks; the spider with Gaga’s face with all the fake jewelry and stuff, and this giant pop-up book for all the books Gaga chose,” installation artists Eli Sudbrack told WWD.

Since the initial announcement, we have been intrigued by the potential of this campaign in comparison to the 2010 concept. It comes as no surprise that the workshop has been planned for nearly a year and we can't wait for the windows to be unveiled on November 21st.

Visit Barneys.com or Gagasworkshop.com for more outstanding visuals, clues, and limited edition product launches.

Tags: holiday, limited time offer, retail, nyc, sweets, food, department store

one sweet pop-up

November 5, 2011 | By Shannon Kelly

{photo: WWD}

Dylan Lauren, chief executive and founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar, has a sweet tooth for holiday retailing.

Lauren will open a 7,000 square foot pop-up shop at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue — complete with a lollipop, gumdrop and candy cane encrusted, life-sized gingerbread house as the centerpiece — for seven weeks beginning November 21st. The large temporary outpost will be half of the size of her Manhattan flagship store (15,000 square feet) located on the upper east side.

“When customers walk through the doors I want them to feel like a kid again,” said Lauren to WWD. “The pop-up store will be filled floor to ceiling with candy.” According to the article, customers will be able to decorate a candy Christmas tree as part of the interactive experience.

As fans of her branding, wholesale growth, and overall retail merchandising, we expect big things (and crowds) from the installation. If anyone can make a pop-up feel fresh and special, it's this Sugar Plum Fairy.

{source: WWD}

Tags: popup retail, sweets, retail, branding, merchandising, holiday, seasonal

charmed by cake

June 30, 2011 | By Shannon Kelly

One of our favorite bakeries, Miette, created this promo piece for the launch of their cookbook: Miette: Recipies from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop. We love that this video remains true to the brands Parisian aesthetic, modern execution, and whimsical nature throughout. This is the perfect example of the difference between a true lifestyle piece and a hard-sell marketing campaign.

And would not love that owner, Meg Ray, eats a piece cake each morning for breakfast.

Très bon!

{source: VB}

Tags: sweets, SF, new media, food, chocolate, cupcakes, marketing, promotion

we called it: mini's go bigtime

March 10, 2011 | By Shannon Kelly

As a trend illustrator, we love it when a big fish validates a past prediction. Thank you Starbucks for launching Starbucks Petites.

{image: Starbucks Coffee Company}

Starbucks foray into eight mini pastries (including cake pops, whoopie pies, mini cupcakes, and sweet squares) are the 2011 version of a trend we've been following since 2004. Initially, we saw traditional French petite pastries during a trendscaping trip to Fauchon as an authentic product extension and an artisan treat that was approachable as well as beautiful. Our second post from 2008 addressed the mini-momentum of smaller, less expensive indulgences. We continued in 2009 by embracing austerity chic with mini-portions in contrast to extravagant meals.

Starbucks versions are both approachable and economical but also target health and wellness with less than 200 calories each. We also like that Starbucks stays on-brand by talking to the pairing of coffee with sweets that include the ever-trendy cupcakes and more unique offerings (cake pops).

Tags: Fauchon, sweets, promotion, coffee, marketing, trendscaping, trend projections, paris, cupcakes, france, food

news bites 10.29.10

October 29, 2010 | By Shannon Kelly

FASHION
- Fashionista schools the web on dressing like a fashion icon for Halloween.
- Bloomie's jumps on the Flash Sale bandwagon.
- British department store Harvey Nichols will open a second location in Hong Kong next October.

+
FOOD
- Cookieboy now appearing with brands such as Issey Miyake and LaForet Harajuku shopping complex and museum in Tokyo according to The Cool Hunter.

Tags: sweets, fashion, food

artful food

October 26, 2010 | By Shannon Kelly

We encountered a delightful treat when we went to check out the SFMOMA cafe: The food is inspired by the famous artwork.

Crafted by local favorite Blue Bottle Coffee Company the hot chocolate, an ice cream cone and chocolate cake has been re-thought to appeal modernists and kids alike.