If you love Brandon Blackwood bags and Starbucks…you’re in luck!
The Starbucks Pink Drink and Starbucks Paradise Drink are two new bottled designs that will be on grocery store shelves this month. The bottle designs are inspired by the fans who love them and who have helped create the #PinkDrink recipe in 2016.
The launch will not only be sold in stores nationwide, but it is in collaboration with fashion designer Brandon Blackwood, who has designed limited-edition sling bottle bags.
Blavity spoke to Blackwood about the intricately designed bags, his brand’s future and more.
The two originally designed Blackwood x Starbucks carry bags will be released and ready for purchase in one limited drop on Friday, April 28 at Starbuckssipandsling.com. Each bag will retail for $75.
“I always say that your customer ultimately molds and forms your brand. So, I think the same way Starbucks did fanmade and fan-inspired drinks, the Pink Drink and the Paradise Drink,” he said. “I think it’s really cool because we do the same thing [at Brandon Blackwood]. A lot of our colorways are on the site. If you go to the comments on the brand page, you’ll see fans requesting, like, ‘I want orange [bags]’, and I give it,” he added.
Blackwood said his favorite feature of his latest design is the “open front window” cut-out, which shows the actual bottle’s artistry.
“It’s completely, like, monochromatic with a little gradient look, so everything just matches up really well together,” he said.
“And then we have a little pocket, and you can either wear it as a shoulder bag or handheld…then you throw in your phone, your wallet, your keys, and you’re just ready to go,” he said when listing all the bag’s classic features.
The Blackwood x Starbucks collab is one of its own, as the designs serve as one of the first bags designed for a drink to be toted around. The iconic collab gave Blackwood free rein to create to his liking.
“I will say Starbucks has been like nothing but mega to partner with, because they were just like, ‘Go for it,'” he added.
The Pink Drink started as a social media sensation in 2016 as a beverage created by a fan which turned into thousands of fans ordering that same recipe. It officially joined the Starbucks menu in 2017, followed by Paradise Drink Starbucks Refreshers beverage last summer.
“We’re thrilled that the beloved Pink Drink is joining the Starbucks menu, just in time for the warmer spring months,” Starbucks vice president, U.S. Retail Beverages, Vivienne Long said. in a previous statement. “This delicious and refreshing drink is a celebration of our customers’ and baristas’ creativity and is just one of the 170,000 ways we craft beverages to meet each person’s unique taste preferences.”
Blackwood notes he is a Pink Drink lover himself, along with the latest Pink Drink Refreshers which made the design even more special. For his own handbag line, Blackwood said to stay tuned as far as adding more ready-to-wear pieces to the line and possible brick & mortar options in the future.
