Costa Coffee partnered with footwear brand Artisan Labs to penetrate the NFT market with a fashion crossover unlike any other before it. Together, the brands created a unique range of coffee-dyed sneakers called “The Drip 1” that will feature an exclusive set of 20 pairs that come numbered and paired with NFTs.
The “Costa-Misation” campaign aims to prove that Costa Coffee’s Mocha Italia blend looks as good as it tastes, and is the result of the collaboration between the brand and the AnalogFolk London agency.
Following a recent spate of TikTok and Instagram trends that see users dyeing sneakers in coffee, Costa Coffee decided to immortalize the latest fad and give it a special, futuristic tweak. Not only are the new sneakers hand-dyed using the brand’s Mocha Italia blend but they also come with an NFT attached.
The coffee-dyed sneakers release coincided with National Espresso Day, which falls on November 23 in the US. Each unique pair of sneakers was bundled with a one-of-a-kind NFT certificate of authentication. In other words, for every pair of severely limited coffee-dyed edition sneakers, there’s proof of ownership on the blockchain.
The exclusive sneaker pairs will be awarded through a competition running on Costa’ Coffee’s official TikTok channel.
Costa Coffee’s decision to partner with Artisan Labs on this project was based on the footwear brand’s commitment to quality and its rich Italian heritage.
“Italian heritage, premium quality and authenticity are the DNA of Artisan Lab,” said Riccardo Gismondi, founder and creative director at Artisan Lab. “Sharing the same core values with Costa Coffee, we couldn’t be happier to create this amazing collaboration. A perfect celebration of what we both stand for and work hard every day to deliver.”
The sneakers are hand-dyed and handmade using sustainable grounds of Costa Coffee Mocha Italia blend and Organoid’s vegan “Coffee Leather.”
“We’re really proud to have been working on this exciting collaboration, said Amandine Fabian, creative director at AnalogFolk London. “Artisan Lab and Costa Coffee is an unexpected but natural match as two brands that share similar values of quality and craftsmanship. The coffee dip adds an edgy touch to the sneakers that will for sure please the fashion community and brand fans.”
The latest marketing campaign seems to be more of an incursion into the web3 space rather than an advertising stunt. It’s only the latest brand to enter the NFT turf following the likes of Barbie and Disney.
