Beau Joie Champagne Kicks Off Collaboration With Fashion Heavy-Hitters Marchesa!
The limited-edition bottle is a tie-up between couture house Marchesa and Beau Joie Champagne!
Champagne has long been the preferred sip of the well-heeled. The bubbles are poured generously at (pre-Covid) fashion weeks. Brigitte Bardot used bottles to christen her boat in the 1970s, and Napoleon Bonaparte would bombastically saber bottles to celebrate his victories in the 1800s.
Beau Joie Champagne is further weaving this love affair closer with a new collaboration with fashion house Marchesa. The limited-edition partnership—it will span a range of new products—kicked off with the release of 1,000 ‘couture bottles’ into the market. These bottles had SRP of US $599 per bottle.
But these two brands are both part of a wave of new guard brands in their respective categories.
Beau Joie is a new-school, Champagne brand. Made in Epernay, France, the zero-dosage Champagne is clean, crisp and delicate, with a natural sweetness and elegant effervescence. The bottle is encased in a handcrafted, upcycled copper lacing inspired by a suit of armor. (Funnily enough, the brand has been thriving during the pandemic—copper is thought to neutralize viruses.)
Marchesa is a highly regarded fashion brand headed by Georgina Chapman; known for dreamy, otherworldly designs translated into both ready-to-wear and couture pieces.
The collaboration will breed a range of new products, the highlight of which is a special cuvée with a bottle designed by Chapman. Instead of the brand’s signature copper casing, the bottle is wrapped in a shimmering constellation of 10,000 hand-beaded stones, pearls, and beads, and finished with iridescent embroidery.
“Collaborating with a couture fashion brand is very different than most partnerships,” says Brandis Deitelbaum, the co-founder and chief marketing officer at Beau Joie Champagne. “The design house is overflowing with imagination which is so much fun and refreshing. The opportunities are endless for what can be created. Fashion people are artists by nature who bring their ideas to life through their clothing.”
However, “it’s difficult to transfer their vision to a glass bottle of champagne,” says Deitelbaum. “Things you have to consider are costs, how to manufacture and assemble, and how to communicate the reason for being, versus just having another pretty bottle.”
Beau Joie is working to cross-market the product globally through luxury retailers and a slow rollout to high-end resorts, hotels, and retail.
“This blend is fruitful, perfectly balanced, and not too dry,” she describes. “We wanted it to have the ability to be served as a Champagne for a toast at a wedding or a shower, or as a special bottle celebrating an anniversary or birthday or another happy occasion. The champagne has no sugar added which is one of our signature points of difference over other champagnes.”
Looking to the history of the category, partnering with creative industries has proved to be fruitful for Champagne brands.
Back in 2016, under the advice of creative strategy firm Mission, Veuve Clicquot’s Widow Series positioned the brand at various art, theater and dance events (including one curated by FKA twigs). It paid off, and the brand saw a 574% increase in user-generated Instagram content and a 455% increase for overall campaign reach.
In 2013, Dom Perignon tapped Jeff Koons for a hot pink sculpture, holding a bottle of 2003 Dom Perignon Rosé. It later sold for €15,000. Over the brand’s history, Dom has tapped everyone from filmmaker David Lynch to Karl Lagerfeld for projects.
In more recent years, fashion designer and general multi-hyphenate Virgil Abloh collaborated with Moët & Chandon for a limited-edition bottle of rose. In 2019, Prabal Gurung crafted a set of Champagne flutes for Perrier-Jouët.
Why is Champagne so successful at category bending? It’s a celebratory beverage, and unlike other wine categories, the bubbles are particularly positioned to thrive in community settings, like fashion shows, art events and beyond. People love celebrating, whether it’s a grand event or just the end of another day, and Champagne is the ideal drink for that.
It’s a beverage favored by wine connoisseurs, but also holds an aspirational status in the luxury goods world. Even those unfamiliar with the painstaking production process and storied history will gravitate to bottles of Dom, Veuve, Moët and the like when it comes time to raise a glass.
But these creative collaborations like these that are almost essential to Champagne’s future. As the director of the UK’s Champagne Information Bureau Francoise Peretti told The Drinks Business, Champagne brands need to attract a younger generation to survive. “Unlike the Baby Boomers, they are open-minded consumers, willing to look beyond the ‘just for celebrations’ mantra. This is their most important attribute: a desire to embrace the idea that Champagne can be a drink for the weekend, not simply New Year.”
So what has Beau Joie has the brand learned through the collaboration?
“We have learned that fashion and luxury is a mindset. You have to spend a great deal of time thinking about why you are doing the collaboration, and what does it bring to the brand and company,” describes Deitelbaum. “We wanted to build on our specialness, while also attracting new consumers to discover us and have a reason for more direct dialog on social media. We closed the circle with a unique offering on our direct-to-consumer portal. I’m proud to say all of our goals were achieved.”
Fashion For The Pandemic? We Asked The Experts What To Expect.
Working in pajamas and sweatpants with no shoes and no makeup. Shirtdresses everywhere, loose fitting like a nightgown and worn with bare feet. Is this what fashion has come to? Let’s hope not, but Bay called on stylists and designers to see how they are planning to dress us in 2021.
Normally, designers are putting the finishing touches on their creations now for next spring. Like us, most designers — particularly those in the fashion hub of New York City where the pandemic hit hard — are creating at home. Many are undecided about what fashion will look like next year. Will clothing lines be flush with sweatsuits and athletic wear? Will everything be black, brown or gray? Or will we be looking for a way to stand out and express ourselves in a world where we may still be stuck in our homes?
Tampa’s Nancy Vaughn, of the White Book public relations and marketing agency, heads Tampa Bay Fashion Week, with events scheduled Sept. 23-26. For 12 years, the week has included a runway fashion show and private, designer cocktail parties.
This year, the programs will be mostly virtual. An in-person designer shopping event with time-slotted appointments is still tentative. “We’re definitely doing something, but what it looks like — we don’t know,” she said. “There’s a collective disappointment all around.” Vaughn said local designers will curb collections for fall and spring. They will create fewer, but more useful pieces. She thinks white, tan and caramel will be popular colors and that most of us will depend on wardrobe staples rather than seasonal designs. Hang on to that pair of black pants, the denim jacket that goes with a long skirt or your favorite jeans, your go-to white blouse. “If we’re able to go out, I think that there’s going to be some desire, depending on where you are in the country, that people are going to want to just wear more versatile, better quality clothing,” Vaughn said. She’s not ruling out color. “I think there’s going to be a desire for color. Color does bring a lot of joy to people,” she said.
Another buzzword in the designer world is sustainability. Vaughn said designers will continue their focus on more eco-friendly materials and longer-lasting clothing. “The industry has taken a sharp turn on clothes that are cheaply made but fashion-forward,” said designer Elizabeth Carson Racker, a Tampa native whose collections have been featured in local fashion week events. Working from her North Tampa studio, Carson Racker has two things in mind for the upcoming seasons. She said “pandemic” fashion must be affordable and it has to make a statement. For the fall and spring, Carson Racker is designing some of her popular kimono-inspired outfits, which she describes as “easy, breezy and washable.” She said her clients “want to go all out and look great but they also want to do it on a budget with colors and brightness.” She’ll be designing oversized coverups for sure. “Here I feel like customers are getting into more ethnic or travel clothing — they want it to look like it’s from somewhere else — that it’s regal, it’s rich with color or embellishments or different sight lines in creativity,” she said.
Rachel Alderson Baynard, a 2002 graduate of St. Petersburg High School, is an outerwear designer for American Eagle in New York City. She finished her spring line the day before her offices were shut down. Now, she is trying to develop collections for next summer from the desk in her cramped apartment. “I honestly don’t know what summer is going to look like just because it will be interesting to see that shift now that we are not in our offices,” she said. “We’ve all shifted from going outside to lounge wear, so that is affecting and will continue to affect my research.” Alderson Baynard is hoping for some bright spots and is craving a return to glittery, over-the-top clothes and accessories. “My thought and my wish is that it won’t be boring because I think people want hope and they want things to look forward to,” she said. “I want people to be able to lift their spirits with color. I always tend to gravitate toward the things that are bright and cheerful anyway — pandemic or not.”
Designer Rachel Alderson-Baynard working on ideas for next summer from her New York City apartment. [ Photo by Rob Baynard ]
Joshua Williams, assistant professor of fashion management at Parsons School of Design in New York City, said he also expects color to be strong in 2021. He predicts there will be a desire for extravagance as people get tired of sweatpants and slippers, but designers won’t forsake slouch wear completely. “I do think that designers are thinking about comfort and how to build that in and I think that’s definitely going to be a trend that we’ll see — a little bit more work-to-home wear,” he said. “There will probably be a little bit more of a minimalism. We’re not shopping in the same way now or we’re not shopping.” He’s counting on waist-up accessories to be big sellers with so many virtual meetings and events. Cue the statement necklace and silk scarf. “A lot of people are looking for a kind of party on the top with accessories that can make it look like you are more dressed up,” he said. He also thinks “street wear” is here to stay for another year. That’s the designer-meets-luxury items like Louis Vuitton sneakers and Chanel shorts.
Anne Randell, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for J. McLaughlin in New York City, said the pandemic “is feeding into everything that we’re doing. We’re asking ‘How is the customer living? What are they doing?’ It’s that balance of comfortable clothes, more subdued tones, but also things that you can depend on.” Color and prints will be staying in the J. McLaughlin boutiques. “They are a big part of our DNA,” said Randell. “I think people are getting dressed for meetings and trying to get some sort of normalcy.”
Fancy or funky, Vaughn of Tampa expects designers to come through for their customers. “What I think is this is interesting and scary too — it’s during these times that people get decision fatigue and they want people to tell them what to wear,” she said. “But the consumer is driving this. It’s going to be wild to watch all of this shake out.”
Sabrina Dhowre Elba Calls For More Diversity In Fashion
Sabrina Dhowre Elba believes there is "way more work" to be done in tackling diversity in the fashion industry.
The 31-year-old model - who is married to actor Idris Elba - thinks there has been a "massive improvement" since she was growing up and had few catwalk stars to look up to, but she still doesn't think enough has been done to promote people of colour on the runway.
She said: "When I was growing up, you had Naomi [Campbell], Tyra [Banks] and Iman. So you'd think, 'OK, maybe I could be one of three.' That was it!
"Even now, while there has obviously been a massive improvement, there's 100% way more work to do."
And Sabrina also called for a push to celebrate different body types because few people on the catwalk share her natural curvy shape.
She added to Grazia magazine: "But also, people talk about Ashley Graham and what she's done for plus-size models but I would love to see that movement work for women of colour. Not only am I looking at these models and thinking, 'They don't look like me in terms of my skin colour', but they don't look like me in terms of body shape either.
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