Vita Coco, the coconut water brand, brought New Yorkers back to Y2K with a pop-up mall that allowed visitors to relive the golden age of the early 2000s mall. Tapping into two icons from the period, the brand’s experience partnered with actress Brenda Song and retailer Limited Too.
After an opening party on May 8, the “Nostalgia Mall” pop-up in Union Square saw over 1,000 guests a day on May 9-10. Guests tried out Vita Coco’s new flavor, the Orange & Creme coconut milk-based beverage, which the brand created to be inspired by the nostalgic taste of a classic creamsicle. Visitors also shopped a co-branded collection of Ts from Vita Coco and Limited Too and an accessories shop which included Y2K favorites like beaded bracelets, lip balm and fuzzy-topped pens.
“Our Treats flavors were inspired by childhood memories and the joy of permissible indulgences,” said Jane Prior, chief marketing officer at Vita Coco. “The Nostalgia Mall allows us to bring that sense of nostalgia to life in a fun, highly creative, experiential way.”
Song, who partnered with Vita Coco for the pop-up launch, told WWD that she has always been a big fan of the brand, adding that it is her boys’ favorite.
“When we found out that they were coming out with this new treat, the orange creme — that’s the flavor of nostalgia,” said Song, who was thrilled to learn about the concept for the nostalgia mall pop-up. “Y2K is obviously my favorite era and when they told me that Limited Too was a part of this, I knew they were really bringing it back. It’s such a beautiful way to launch this really fun new flavor.”
Brenda Song and Vita Coco team up for a nostalgic mall experience inspired by the early 2000s mall.
Courtesy Image.
Reflecting back on what she misses from the early 2000s mall experience, Song said that it was her treat on the weekends to hang out with girlfriends, window shop and go to the food court. Today, she brings her own children to the mall for the experience, which can mean pictures with Santa.
“It represented such an innocent time in our lives and I feel like in this day and age everything’s all about social media and pictures. I feel like I have no pictures from that era which makes me sad but it’s because we were living in the moment,” said Song.
Acknowledging that Vita Coco is “more of a lifestyle brand” than a fashion brand, she told WWD that the partnership for the nostalgia mall has inspired her to look back at her closet — even asking her mom to go into storage. For the event, she wore metallic heels from 2003.
“This pop-up is inspiring me to dig into my own closet and re-shop my closet, which is really important,” said Song. “We don’t do that enough and I think there’s such a faux pas to wear the same thing again and I guess I’m so old now that all of my old stuff is coming back into style. I’m at that phase.”
