Longtime Hamptons resident Gwyneth Paltrow opened a brick-and-mortar shop for her lifestyle website Goop on July 1 in Amagansett, and has been busy hosting events all summer long. That culminated last weekend with a series of activations celebrating Goop’s partnership with the children’s movie Despicable Me 3, the highlight of which was an afternoon lemonade stand-theme party on August 6.
Hosted along with Molly Sims and the popular website Mama & Tata geared toward fashionable, young mothers, the Sunday event was a yellow-theme carnival of all things Minion. About 80 guests, mostly moms and their children, attended the al fresco affair, which offered an opportunity to view first-hand the curated Minion merchandise at Goop MRKT. “We wanted to celebrate Goop’s presence in Amagansett and really create a community and support local vendors in the area,” said Colleen Kennedy Cohen, director of events at Goop.
Attendees were treated to Goop’s take on a lemonade stand. “The lemonade stand felt like an organic way to celebrate the Minons and their love of lemons, bananas, and everything yellow while also celebrating summer at Goop MRKT,” said Cohen. “We wanted to create a special day for families to come to Goop MRKT and enjoy shopping [and] garden activities—all Minion-inspired, and celebrate the partnership.”
Cohen created a series of interactive stations for families. They included everything from photo-op moments on a special Despicable Me 3 x Goop swing hung from a tree to Minion-themed Instax cameras to yellow Hunter boots customized with Minion-inspired designs. A custom kid’s Despicable Me 3 x Goop lemonade stand was a social media hit.
Bites including naturally dyed Minion-yellow cotton candy and cookies—as an ode to the mischievous characters of Illumination and Universal’s Despicable Me series. “I really wanted to serve healthy and kid-friendly options while also offering some fun sweet treats,” said Cohen. “As a mother, it’s all about balance.” In addition to the Peter Callahan Catering-prepared menu, a big hit was also the artisanal cotton candy cart by Fluff and Fluff that served custom treats to those young and young at heart.
On the way out, guests were handed gift bags that contained blue and yellow kids garden tools, a watering can, a Minion luggage tag, and a plush Minion in a custom Minion tote bag for the road.
While the “Littles” shop at Goop MRKT serves as the anchor of the collaboration, Paltrow has hosted back-to-back events supporting the summer-long partnership between Goop, Illumination, and Universal Brand Development. In addition to the lemonade stand party, Paltrow, earlier in July, hosted a screening of Despicable Me 3 in Southampton where Minion-colored cotton candy and mocha popcorn were served.
“A large percentage of Goop readers are female and also mothers,” Cohen noted. “Additionally, with Gwyneth being a mom and so many staffers having kids that love the Minions it felt like a natural partnership.”
