Wearing your food used to mean dribbling ketchup down your shirt, but we’ve entered a new age of food fashion. It may seem silly, but brands—especially in the food and snack industry—are designing their own wearable fashions, and they’re selling out fast. From Big Mac boots to White Castle streetwear, you are what you eat and these food brands are cashing in.
Saucy Styles
Taco Bell is the latest brand to create its own fashion, teaming up with Forever 21 to launch its own line of clothing. From what the press have been shown, the designs are pretty saucy—literally. One tank top is modeled after a hot sauce packet. The two brands will debut the rest of the collection on October 10 in Los Angeles’ Fashion District, complete with a runway show, taco trucks and entertainment from a Taco Bell Feed The Beat artist.
The limited edition Forever 21 x Taco Bell collection will launch in Forever 21 stores and online globally October 11.
Finger Lickin’ Fashion
Kentucky Fried Chicken has reinvented itself as a millennial-focused brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously. In addition to a series of comedic TV spots and publicity stunts, fans can slip on some chicken-printed socks, don gold-colored “finger lickin’ good” necklaces or lay their heads on Colonel Sanders pillowcases.
Sure, it’s weird, but the extra crispy food fashion seems to be working. Many of the products on KFC’s online store are already sold out. Someone even bought the $20,000 chicken-sandwich-shaped meteorite.
“Our tongue-in-cheek humor and over-the-top selling is something that has been working well for us since many millennials distrust advertising to begin with,” George Felix, KFC’S director of advertising, told AListDaily. “Instead of running away from that, we run right toward it. We believe that our ability to poke fun at the conventions of typical advertising has given us credibility with millennials. We know the new brand positioning and advertising has put KFC back on the map.”
Cheesy Coutour
The cheesy, orange snack began offering Cheetos-inspired fashion this past holiday season that included Flamin Hot Pants, underwear, cuff links, a cheetah onesie and even a $20,000 sapphire ring.
“The Cheetos brand is always looking for fun ways to engage with our consumers beyond snacking with programs that are an extension of the playful brand personality we are known for,” Ryan Matiyow, senior director of marketing for Frito-Lay, the parent company of Cheetos, told AListDaily.
You Dew You
Last year, Mountain Dew partnered with youth culture fashion brand VFiles to celebrate the history of camouflage. “Camo Out” is a collection of smart clothes that include a hat, Bluetooth jacket, solar-powered backpack, as well as jackets and pants with built-in headphones.
“When the brand is at its best, it’s constantly innovating, instigating and pushing the culture in a meaningful way for all of our fans—they expect it from us,” Stinson Parks, Mountain Dew’s digital marketing manager, told AListDaily.
The collection debuted during New York Fashion Week 2016, with models wearing the tech-infused clothes on the runway. A month later, an interactive exhibit featuring Camo Out was featured during ComplexCon in Los Angeles.