RawandToasted
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RawandToasted

  • Raw and Toasted blog
    Fashion

    Denim 3.0: Levi’s Rebrand Shows How to Marry Culture with Commerce

    May 05 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, That feeling of trying on jeans in a fitting room lit up with black lights, not knowing if you need them, want them, or capitalism is gaslighting the hell out of you: That was me. After the one-must-take-forever scroll on a pretty slow Saturday I saw her: Beyoncé. A roadside diner. A freezer that made me feel 90s Americana and 2025 all at once. Levi’s. It was a little different. And I knew right then that it wasn’t a happy accident but a strategic growth hack. It wasn’t just the jeans I was contemplating that moment. It was…

  • Lifestyle

    Why CLAP HOUSE Ibiza Is More Than a Retreat – It’s a New Business Model

    Apr 29 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, Tuesday morning, and I seem to be living in two distinct worlds: World 1 where I am remaking the Zara flagship; World 2 where I am entering consulting mode and working on the presentation for a luxury-fashion client whose heads are 1 to 10 on whether or not they will launch wellness offerings, a new fragrance, or a ski resort in Courchevel (or all three, this morning). Here’s a snapshot of what my life looks like. The creative one sitting comfortably next to the analytical one and scrambling to get it shipped before midnight. This equals a lot…

  • Fashion - My Take on AI

    The Future of Fashion? Reclaimed, Repurposed, and Ridiculously Profitable

    Apr 23 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, I’ll never forget the moment it clicked. Easter break is done, the shop floor is begging me to get out of the office and I probably should be getting back into my colour stories and signage drama, but before I do, I couldn’t leave you without this little long-weekend distraction… My bestie and I have always been obsessed with all things fashion, design and art. We’ve spent hours sharing each other shocking Reels, Pinterest Boards and Tik Tok videos of deconstructed jackets and hand-stitched bags and whatever else we could find that was both cool and questionable. But…

  • Fashion

    How Dior’s Kyoto Show Redefined Experiential Marketing in Luxury Fashion

    Apr 18 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, Meanwhile, last week To-Ji Temple, Kyoto, UNESCO heritage site, 8th century, Dior Pre-Fall 2025 collection. It was covered by the fashion press as follows in terms of embroidery, shapes and details. But what interested me was not the collection, but how it was presented. An experiential brand positioning case study for the post-aesthetic economy: immersion art… Read more Sorry, I do think that these brands – the early-stage, emerging brands in fashion, lifestyle, wellness and travel – really should’ve been paying a lot more heed to this. It wasn’t couture. It was code. What Dior Actually Did: An…

  • Raw and Toasted - Qima Cafe
    Lifestyle

    This Coffee Was So Good, I Built a Growth Model in My Head

    Apr 13 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, I didn’t go there to fall in love – with a company, with a coffee shop. I merely needed a shot of caffeine to get me through the unavoidably long day of interviews-again-and, in my head, already preparing for a team readout on Monday. You know that kind of “death by schedule” afternoon: beat, oat-milk-starved, and already in zombie mode. I’d been languishing in my DM’s, chatting to my would-be-coffee date – that freakishly hot one Smita (the “we-should-eat-coffee-one-day” pseudo-flirt) – floating in the digital ether for months. We have London, we’re both perpetually exhausted, flaky and go-with-the-flow.…

  • raw-and-toasted-prada-versace
    Fashion - My Take on AI

    Prada Buys Versace For £1.1B – Big Boss Energy & The Future Of UK Luxury Fashion

    Apr 13 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, It’s one of those exceptions to a London morning in April: yes, we’ve got sunshine and you’re willing to pay for this very expensive flat white just so you can sit outside and ignore the outside world having an existential crisis. I’m doomscrolling on LinkedIn when BAM; news is broken: Prada has just sunk €1.1bn into Versace. The chat group goes OFF. “Bro, that’s a corporate mic drop.” Imagine the synergy “Prada was just like, ‘Yeah, I want that. Just give me the head of Medusa.'” This is so much more than just a branding change. Never before…

  • My Take on AI

    Before You Ghibli-fy Yourself Again… Read This First

    Apr 10 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, The Ghibli AI Craze, Explained (By a Sucker Who Fell for It, Too) No joking – I was in the gutter. One second I am sipping an oat milk coffee and scrolling Tik Tok and the next second I am making myself look like a Studio Ghibli character about to get on the Catbus. And honestly? It was adorable. Wholesome. Dreamy AF! Of course, existential angst started to settle in, I stopped…questioning myself: Wait a sec…what am I just surrendering to this AI gizmo? And…what’s this thing even going to do with my mug? Time to get to…

  • My Take on AI

    A Cuppa, a Click, and a £153bn Market: My Take on the Retail Tech Show 2025

    Apr 08 - By 

    Hi fellow flat white technology-dwellers -Retail Tech Show 2025 was and (almost) is and what’s the feeling? One word – bang on! With cuppa in hand and our clap hand getting ever closer to forcing us to clap the fingers for more curiosity, I tiptoed through Olympia London whooping at retail rising again IRL and marveling at the pace it was racing back in the saddle. Biometrics at check out, AI avatar stylists advising you on which trainers to buy the retail paradise of UK was here. Here’s a few images of the espresso that spurred me into a full-on…

  • Fashion

    The Spring 2025 Trends to Make Your Closet Scream “Main Character”

    Apr 06 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups – – defrosting is defrosting, the birds are chirping and your winter coat? She’s been waiting to exhale. Yep, Spring 2025 has landed and she came in with some much needed attitude. Whatever your latest source of manifest brunch on the roof, picnic-ing in the park or new love for slaying your morning coffee run, your wardrobe is about to have a glow up. We’re talking textures of “models in a field”, the soft girl aesthetic & styles that say “i didn’t even try but still lit”. And ready to fill that closet with new updates that still…

  • Fashion

    Pack Like A Pro: The Ultimate Summer Beach Holiday Packing List 2025

    Apr 01 - By 

    Hola Sugarcups, It’s been a minute! As you can see I’ve been brunching my way through Notting Hill, spring cleaning my summer wardrobe and refreshing my coastal grandma look so now the sun has finally appeared (much like that flaky brunch date who swore they’d see you but just never did) I’m ready to get into some style chat – and especially on the very key things to pack for your beach holiday summer 25. So go ahead and make yourself a nice little iced-cold pressed doca and get comfortable, because we’re about to pack a suitcase of total style…