The Supermarket, safe space during the pandemic, is fashion’s latest muse.

What is the tipping point in fashion consciousness? Of late it appears that the supermarket and its provisions are giving fashion and design a new life. From Longchamp’s Madison Avenue flagship with a supermarket theme to Rag & Bone‘s pop-up at Nordstrom, the grocery aisles, coming from their pandemic-infused essentialness, are giving fashion and style a more functional and democratic window to communicate desire, craving, safety and a sense of fulfillment. 

The supermarket and food are both urgently relevant in their survivalist form as well as how they sumptuously titillate the senses during a pandemic when many of our senses were suppressed. There is also something particularly attractive about the natural, uncomplicated nature of food and, in the case of supermarkets, in the simple, linear way of discovering goods which provides a supple antidote to our current digital sensory overload. Simply put food and the supermarket make us feel safe, balanced and complete. 

While the supermarket as muse is highly relevant now, it is not a new reference for fashion and the arts, think for instance of how Pop Art was fueled by its obsession with the quotidian as best evidenced in Andy Warhol’s work taking supermarket staples such as Campbell’s soup and elevating them to iconic art pieces. 

Borrowing from this creative flow, a few years ago, Chanel staged its runway collection in a supermarket, giving a savory twist to the “idea” of fashion shows. Years prior, Etro staged their men’s collection in a local Milan bodega. Most recently, the London Design Museum in Kensington collaborated with Bombay Gin to provide pop-up supermarket replete with common pantry items designed by artists, and offered for sale in the museum. And in doing so, the museum fused style and design with a more urgent sense of pragmatism and meaning.

These unique backdrops provide a sense of wonder in everyday items, and inspire shoppers to take a closer look and to enjoy the relationship between food and fashion. So stop and savor the power of food as creative inspiration and the essentially simplistic yet powerful way that supermarkets can take you on a journey.

There is a lot to learn from the welcoming, meditative and slightly automatic mood grocery shopping puts you in, to cleanse the mind and stimulate it for new journeys. There is also a reminder in supermarket mode to think of all the pragmatic, real-life riddles your brand should solve around comfort, sustainability, the power of local and the greater good. 

So dabble in the beauty of the day to day, and in the possibilities of the supermarket. Your next innovation and style idea might be lurking right next to the produce section. So go ahead and dress up, put the phone down and let’s go grocery shopping.