Fashion brands are celebrated for being unpredictable, and ironically, that sometimes means leaning into the everyday. Often it means steering away from menswear altogether. Just look at the streetwear fans who queue around the block to buy a £160 branded brick from Supreme, or the Aimé Leon Dore aficionados who opt for a special edition Sharpie pen when their bank accounts forbid them from buying an actual piece of clothing.
And then you get the kind of fashion merch that's aimed for the Whole Foods-aholic with a different organic cotton tote for each day of the week. French fashion house A.P.C.’s latest offering isn’t a shockingly-shaped handbag or divisive pair of shoes… it’s olive oil.
But! Make no mistake, this isn’t just any olive oil. As a brand known for its je ne sais quoi, this lovingly-made kitchen condiment is as confident as you would expect. Expertly crafted by the Moulin des Ombres mill at the Château de Montfrin with olive trees from the Tuscan region, it’s “smooth and mild yet very green” composition (as described in the press release) is housed in a classic glass bottle. To further accessorise your cooking space, there’s the choice of buying it with its own linen tea towel – it's designed by Mathias Augustyniak from the M/M graphic studio with illustrations inspired by olive oil and the brand’s founder, Jean Toutitou’s photography. He even recommends how to use it: “Take some normal toasted bread, with both ends slightly blackened. Don’t wait for the toast to cool down. Pour a little oil on top and add a bit of salt.” Make haste to your nearest boulangerie.
The fusion of fashion and food started a few years back, just before 'lockdown' and 'unprecedented' became part of our daily lexicon. Brands had the lightbulb idea of luring people in for a bite to eat in the hope that it would fuel a shopping trip. Jacquemus opened Oursin in Galleries Lafayette; Gucci Osteria expanded to L.A; and Harrods became the home for Tiffany’s Blue Box café. A.P.C. also opened their own pop-up café in Paris, situated in the 1st arrondissement for art lovers to stop by after a morning at the Louvre, and has since launched a more permanent space in Seoul. Those rise-and-dine partnerships were more welcomed than others. Croc’s collaboration with KFC resulted in a shoe covered in drumsticks, and despite the attention it received, it was not, by any measure, finger lickin’ good.
So, what next? Half Moon-shaped pastries? Branded oven mitts? A fresh produce section within their store? We’ll have to wait and see. But if forget to pick up a bottle of Fillippo Berlo on your supermarket sweep after work, you know where to go.
The olive oil and tea towel available to buy in all A.P.C. stores from January 27th.
