Lipton Ice Tea launches 90s inspired clothing collaboration ‘That Summer Feeling’ with creator-founded streetwear brand Cruel Pancake

• Lipton Ice Tea® announces its first ever fashion venture with the launch of ‘That Summer Feeling’, a vibrant and exclusive 25-piece clothing collection that blends Cruel Pancake’s bold designs with Lipton’s refreshing brand identity
• The partnership with the creator-founded streetwear brand Cruel Pancake underlines Lipton Ice Tea’s commitment to creator-first marketing, supported by an influencer gifting strategy and creator-attended launch party.

The iconic drinks brand, Lipton Ice Tea®, has announced its first ever venture into the world of fashion with the launch of ‘That Summer Feeling’, a vibrant and exclusive 25-piece clothing collection in collaboration with Cruel Pancake, a creator-founded streetwear brand by Hugo Philip.

The ice tea brand blends the creative vision and bold designs of Cruel Pancake’s Artistic Director, Philip, with Lipton Ice Tea’s refreshing and uplifting brand identity.

‘That Summer Feeling’: An original limited edition collection 

The original limited edition collection is inspired by a 90s aesthetic. The collaboration is informed by consumer nostalgia for Lipton Ice Tea as a fridge staple during the era and its natural association with summer.

The vintage collection focuses on high quality produce with vibrant designs including: Harrington jackets, shorts, bandanas, visors, towels and beach bags.

A photo campaign with Mediterranean hues

The brands appointed photographer, Ludovic Zuili, to highlight the campaign with a photoshoot on the sunny French Riviera. The photoshoot saw 92-year-old model Andres Garcia-Carro Crespo, ‘The Spanish King’, pose alongside Gen Z models to capture the nostalgia of the partnership.

The ‘Thirsty’ pop-up

The collection launched on 13th July with ‘Thirsty’, a co-created pop-up, held in Paris (3, rue Molière, 1st arrondissement). Creators and consumers were invited to visit from 10am to 6pm, with the chance to win exclusive items from the collection and the opportunity to explore the collaboration through the photo campaign, while enjoying iced donuts and signature drinks by Lipton Ice Tea. Without any advertising, the pop-up was attended by more than 1,500 visitors during its six hour opening period, driven largely by Lipton Ice Tea and Cruel Pancake’s loyal fan-bases.

For those unable to visit, a competition was launched on Cruel Pancake’s Instagram page on July 5th, 6th and 7th for fans to play a Lipton-branded online game. Beyond the physical pop-up store, the limited edition ‘That Summer Feeling’ clothing range can only either be won through the game or is available exclusively to the gifted creator talent. More than 11,000 people have played the game.

The creator campaign

To sustain buzz around the collection’s launch, Billion Dollar Boy is managing the execution of a creator campaign involving eight campaign ambassadors to model the collection and share key campaign messages across Instagram Reels and Stories.

The ambassadors will be supported by an influencer gifting programme with almost 200 gifted talent across France, the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, Poland, Turkey and the US. Additionally, 30 influencers will be wearing the collection at Sziget Festival 2024, the second most attended festival in Europe which Lipton Ice Tea is sponsoring for a second consecutive year.

The creator campaign is designed to build awareness and talkability around the clothing line, expand reach, engage communities and assert the brand’s uniqueness, personality, and values among a younger generation of consumers.

Victoire Binet, Global Digital Marketing & Brand Engagement Director of Pepsi Lipton, comments: “This collaboration with Cruel Pancake represents both a turning point and a continuity: Lipton Ice Tea stands for sunshine in a bottle, tangy colours and a passionate community. Working with Cruel Pancake is a dream come true, because the DNA of our two brands is completely intertwined. Lipton is a real ray of sunshine, which matches seamlessly with Cruel Pancake’s mantra, ‘Give this World good energy’. This partnership makes perfect sense.”

Cruel Pancake Artistic Director and Creator, Hugo Philip: “We have worked hard on this collection to ensure crisp details and a perfect fit. This first collaboration allowed us to fully express our creativity, injecting our energy and our own personal touch. The creative proposal of this collaboration encourages us to move away from the conventional and the shyness and invites us to boldly assert ourselves by wearing bright colours all summer long.”

Maxime Rozencwajg, Senior Account Director at Billion Dollar Boy adds: “We’re super excited about this collaboration because of its unique approach to supporting creator entrepreneurs and inserting heritage brands into new verticals. The clothing line is really special with its 90s nostalgia and colourful designs that really pop! But beyond the physical launch, we needed to tap into culture to sustain Lipton’s positioning as a lifestyle brand and identified the huge potential of a creator-first approach to grow community engagement and land the campaign message in an authentic way.”