After a long series of commentaries, polemics, retail debates, and consumers anticipation, the grand opening of Starbucks’ Roastery in Milan, the cornerstone of Starbucks entrance in Italy – home of the coffee, happened some days ago, with a rumored 7 million € spent on publicity.
In that bagarre, a smaller angle did not go unnoticed to our brand innovation observatory, despite it went pretty much under the standard media radar: a collaboration between the coffee giant and the luxury eyewear brand Retro Superfuture.
With collaborations ranging from retail (Colette, Lane Crawford, Slam Jam), to designers (Off-White, Gosha Rubchinskiy) to music (Giorgio Moroder, Elton John’s AIDS foundation) Retrosuperfuture is well known in the collaborations arena, as it uses this platform heavily with a clear strategy behind.
This small collection is available only at the Starbucks’ “Reserve Roastery” format, the coffee mecca opened in Milan, with other two stores in Seattle, and Shanghai.
In fact, the objective of Retrosuperfuture Reserve Roastery limited edition enhances Starbucks’ allure at its special premium store, while giving Retrosuperfuture a global twist in a very selective channel.
Copper and black tones inspired by the location feature the collection, soon available also in the upcoming Roastery stores in New York, Chicago and Tokyo.