Is Food and Drink the New Way to Sell Fashion?
I always felt that fashion has always been about more than fabric.
It’s an expression kind of language, a lifestyle, and most importantly, a feeling. In recent years, however, fashion brands have started to move beyond the runway and the boutique. Their newest stage? The dining table.
From branded cafés in Paris to limited-edition cocktail collaborations in New York, the marriage of food, drink, and fashion is everywhere.
But is this just another marketing gimmick, or is it the new frontier of style?
Why food? Why now?
Food and drink are universal. Unlike a couture jacket, a latte with a logo is accessible to everyone. It’s a point of entry: a way for a fan to buy into a brand without committing to a price tag in the thousands. In a world where consumers crave experiences over products, a fashion-branded cappuccino or curated tasting menu feels like a taste of exclusivity, without the velvet rope.
The aesthetic of appetite
Fashion and food share the same core values: desire, indulgence, and beauty. A plated dish can be as styled as a runway look, and a cocktail can carry as much identity as a handbag. The Instagram economy only amplifies this synergy. A coffee cup stamped with a luxury logo can travel the digital world faster than any seasonal campaign.
Jacquemus and the fruit stand
Few designers understand this crossover better than Simon Porte Jacquemus. Known for his playful minimalism and Mediterranean roots, Jacquemus has blurred the lines between fashion and lifestyle through food. From pop-up fruit and flower stands in Paris to a branded “Café Citron,” his universe is infused with flavors and scents that mirror his collections. He doesn’t just sell clothes, he sells a sun-drenched world where you can wear linen, eat peaches, and sip espresso under striped umbrellas.
It’s fashion as a feeling, and food is the most immediate way to make that feeling real.
Ralph’s Coffee: Americana in a cup
Ralph Lauren has long sold the American Dream through clothing. With Ralph’s Coffee, he poured that dream into a cup. The green-and-white cafés, tucked inside Ralph Lauren flagships, feel like stepping into his world of polished prep. The move proves that lifestyle branding doesn’t end with clothes, it can be brewed, sipped, and shared.
Prada’s Marchesi 1824: heritage on a plate
Prada took a different approach by acquiring Pasticceria Marchesi 1824, one of Milan’s oldest pastry shops. Here, luxury is tied to history: delicate pastries, gilded interiors, and packaging that echoes Prada’s sleek minimalism. Rather than a gimmick, Marchesi shows how food can extend a brand’s legacy into new, delicious forms.
Gucci Osteria: couture for the palate
Gucci partnered with Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura to launch Gucci Osteria in Florence, Beverly Hills, Tokyo, and Seoul. Each dish merges Bottura’s culinary genius with Gucci’s creative flamboyance. It’s not just dinner, it’s dining as high fashion, where the plating feels like runway styling and every meal is a collection drop.
The business of branding
For brands, the equation is simple: food and drink extend their reach. Pop-up restaurants, collaborations with Michelin-starred chefs, or even candy bars wrapped in monogrammed packaging allow fashion houses to step into lifestyle territory.
When you eat and drink the brand, you’re not just wearing it, you’re living it.
Is it sustainable?
Skeptics argue this is a passing trend, a sugary add-on to fashion’s already crowded universe. But when done with intention, these experiences create brand loyalty that lasts. A carefully designed café can become a cultural landmark, a place where fans gather not only to sip coffee but to immerse themselves in the brand’s world.
So, is food the new runway?
Maybe. Maybe not. What’s clear is that food and drink offer fashion an entirely new sensory dimension. You can’t taste a dress or sip a pair of shoes, but you can create an experience that feels just as stylish.
Fashion has always been about appetite. Maybe it was inevitable that one day, it would serve it to us on a plate.
Ready to bring your brand to the table?
At Chelfdom, we specialize in creating cookbooks, campaigns, and food stories that don’t just look beautiful, they sell lifestyle. If you’re a fashion, food, or lifestyle brand looking to blur the lines between taste and style, we can help you craft content that feels timeless, premium, and unmistakably yours.
