The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
Tasting notes
Erdem, Gucci, Victoria Beckham – the style crowd has a taste for culinary collaborations
Designers’ culinary collaborations
LAST YEAR, Jamie Oliver collaborated on the design of a pair of sneakers (the JO-18 Lo by Seven Feet Apart featured bright-white Italian leather, a golden trim and a heel design aptly named the ‘fat biscuit’...). Shortly afterwards, Victoria Beckham unveiled a new autumn design – a box of chocolate hearts created by Pierre Marcolini, to mark the 10th anniversary of her brand (it wasn’t revealed which of the flavours, from salted-butter caramel to rose and passion fruit, was her favourite). Their roles reversed, the chef and designer are just two examples of many delicious partnerships that blur the boundary between fashion and food.
Consider, historically, The Berkeley’s Prêt-à-portea (this season with a Dior theme), Patrick Cox’s foray into cake-making – and Gucci Osteria, the brand’s first restaurant, which opened in Florence at the start of 2018 and is overseen by three-michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura. Gimmicky, perhaps, but the two industries are often playful when they overlap. Fashion houses have long been drawn to food brands and their recognisable motifs (I’m looking at you, Moschino).
Erdem launched a new work during London Fashion Week last month – a silver-plated fruits de mer stand for London’s venerable seafood restaurant J Sheekey, embellished with koi carp paused mid-leap over the rim of the platter. Diners can feast from it at J Sheekey Atlantic Bar until September – or purchase the limited-edition stand for £800.
Then there’s House of Hackney teaming up with Tanqueray (gin botanicals inspiring a new print that adorns glasses and packaging) – a collaboration with the clothing and interiors label that doesn’t stretch to the liquid itself, to the relief of purists about to pour a G&T.