Despite what you may know about Coffee ‘n Clothes as an experiential agency—known for on-the-go brand activations and in-fashion functions (like when the company partnered with Forever 21 to recreate an IRL Barbie Dream House)—there’s an underbelly to the brand that’s rooted in, well, coffee and clothes.
In fact, that’s how the agency first started back in 2014, as a social media community where users could snap a pic of their OOTD and late-morning latte, and share it to Instagram using the hashtag #coffeeandclothes. (We’ll keep a long story short; you can read more about the agency’s start here.)
By 2019, the attention the hashtag received prompted brands like Nike and spirits giant Diageo to tap Coffee ‘n Clothes to produce cafe-centered events. Founder Ryan Glick simply rode the wave and found a way to create custom sleeves and latte art.
With brands like these in Glick’s portfolio, event requests kept pouring in, and Coffee ‘n Clothes—even in its infancy—has come to produce an Airstream for DSW that made stops around LA and Nashville, a coffee truck for luxury retailer Hermès, and a VIP brunch to celebrate Forever 21’s collab with fashion house Hervé Léger, just to name a few.
One could argue that an accidental experiential agency was born out of word-of-mouth recommendations and inquiries from press coverage. And somewhere along the way, Coffee ‘n Clothes as the event partner became known throughout the industry and among brands as CNC.
But it was always that brick-and-mortar coffee shop that had Glick’s heart.
Ryan Glick, founder and president of CNC Agency and Coffee 'n ClothesPhoto: Courtesy of CNC
And so, nearly a decade after Coffee ‘n Clothes was first brought to life as a place where a cup of Joe is a fashion accessory, Glick is returning to his passion project—but this time he has CNC Agency behind him
Glick’s beloved company, as of today, has been split into two: CNC Agency, which specializes in physical-first experiences, and Coffee ‘n Clothes, a consumer-facing coffee brand.
From an Instagram hashtag to a serendipitous launch into the event world to a retail space that encourages consumers to be “stylishly caffeinated,” here’s what Glick had to say on the future of CNC and Coffee ‘n Clothes…
Tell us about how you’re splitting your brand into two separate entities—CNC and Coffee ‘n Clothes—and how you plan to share how you’re refreshing the company with your customers.
At a high level, CNC is going to be our experience marketing agency, and Coffee ‘n Clothes is going to be our consumer-facing brand, which was always the initial vision and why I started this, right? Retail, product, basically creating a global coffee brand.
With that comes a new logo for CNC, and you’ll start seeing it now, but really, in early 2024, you’ll see different verticals under CNC. We obviously already have our experiential division, our mobile vehicle division, our CNC merch division, which we started during COVID—it’s all branded merchandise, promotional swag, and items—but we're also launching a whole innovation lab, which is going to be all about how technology and creativity combine. This is going to feature artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) and how that gets applied to different experiences, so that's super exciting for us. We're also launching a partnerships division called CNC Connect. Based on how we got started—as two different industries, coffee and fashion, coming together—it makes sense.
Many brands come to us and say: 'Hey, can you connect us to this brand?' Or, 'Can we do a sneaker? Can we create this or that?' Now it makes sense for us to have a partnerships division. Then we’ll also launch a communications division for media around the actual activations that we're doing.
With CNC's rebrand comes a new logo, which still ties in a subtle nod to coffee.Photo: Courtesy of CNC
What’s the goal for Coffee ‘n Clothes 2.0 as a brand?
We're going to have our own retail locations—not just pop-up shops but brick-and-mortar. We're going to have products that are collaborations at our own marketplace, and wholesale products being sold into a Saks or a Bloomingdale's. These products will be coffee-focused, so think fashion-inspired mugs and home goods that may be a collaboration with a fashion brand.
What is your target audience for the Coffee ‘n Clothes brand?
I would say Gen Z and millennials, because I really want to own that home space, and our tagline is 'stylishly caffeinated.' So we're taking a fashionable and stylish approach to your home, your coffee, and your morning routine—things like that.
Once the Coffee 'n Clothes community grew, Glick began creating custom coffee cups and latte art so his company could parter with other brands.Photo: Courtesy of CNC
What’s it like for you to be able to return to the OG iteration of Coffee ‘n Clothes?
What’s interesting is that Coffee ‘n Clothes started in 2014. CNC has come out of that, so the reason Coffee ‘n Clothes has been dormant since COVID is that we were growing [CNC]. We were hiring and putting a lot of energy and focus there, but now we have more leadership and teams where I can start to bring back the vision of Coffee ‘n Clothes.
To me, the key thing is that Coffee ‘n Clothes and CNC are going to co-function together. The brand is going to promote the agency; the agency is going to promote the brand. We're an agency that thinks like a brand because we have one. That’s what really sets us apart.
Tell us more about how your two brands plan on working together.
Let's just say we had 10 different retail locations all over the world—those are essentially event spaces for the agency.
Coffee 'n Clothes will be its own independent brand with retail locations and a product line—hopefully we can build out a globally recognized coffee brand. The brand will also promote CNC Agency, and then the agency can promote Coffee 'n Clothes. They will be integrated and flow together, working hand in hand, but functioning separately.
What’s been the greatest challenge in reestablishing Coffee ‘n Clothes while still giving CNC love?
Every day is a new challenge, especially for me, because personally and for my company I’m always trying to evolve, learn, and be better.
I think the challenge with CNC is always expanding our capabilities and making sure our operations are in order. I want to be going into the day or the week or the month with really refined and detailed goals, and then make sure my attention is on that. I can get totally sidetracked on so many different things every hour of the day. So it's important to stay focused on what we're looking to achieve that day or week or month.
I set new goals and I want to achieve them, and I have to remind myself that we’re a startup, but CNC is already working with massive, global brands. We’re competing with massive agencies with hundreds and thousands of staff, and we’re holding our weight, and we’re doing amazing work.
Coffee 'n Clothes' roots as a coffee shop translated well into the event world, where CNC is beloved for its mobile activations, such as this one for hit Netflix series Love Is Blind.Photo: Courtesy of CNC
