Magnum Ice Cream hosted an opening party for its latest flagship store in Soho on May 18. This is the first flagship store to open in the United States.
The store opening featured
a “dressy casual” dress code, a film crew, velvet ropes, and a bouncer checking IDs at the door. These are typical things you might see at a fashion event, not the opening of an ice cream store.
The fashion industry had a heavy presence for the event with Kendall Jenner, Hailey Balwdin, and Suki Waterhouse all in attendance. Jenner and Waterhouse will serve as brand ambassadors and have been seen at other events posing with the frozen, chocolate-covered ice cream bars.
The company’s newest campaign features the hashtag #ReleasetheBeast, and Jenner has been reported using it four times in her social media posts. Considering June is when the most ice cream is produced, the company opened the store just in time.
W Magazine cites that a Magnum representative was quoted saying, “This is not your normal ice cream store.”
Hailey Baldwin arrived for her “dipping moment,” where she had the choice of a wide range of dips. Among her choices were “gold flakes,” “culinary rose petals,” “Himalayan sea salt,” and “Urfa Biber chile flakes.” The model came to the event dressed in sneakers due to recently breaking her ankle.
Magnum is no stranger to the fashion world so the fact that models were present at the event was not a huge surprise. In 2011, the company released a short film starring Rachel Bilson and Baptiste Giabiconi. It was directed by famed director, Karl Lagerfield.
The company’s efforts to spark business for the new flagship store has many people wondering if the sex appeal and swanky storefront will be enough to influence customers to visit the store this summer. With the success of the store opening event, it looks like the company may do just fine.
