Overview
Fairy bread popsicles, ice cream sandwiches and new age choctops; this is a delicious branding exercise we can truly get behind. To celebrate the synchronised opening of Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm at Chatswood Chase, Williams-Sonoma have collaborated with Gelato Messina to create wonderfully twee, bespoke gelato flavours to match their four brands.
Dubbed the 'Welcome Home' collection, the four bespoke experiments have been designed to embody the individual brand identities of Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm. Individually handmade by the Gelato Messina team, the iced confections will be handed out to customers on Saturday August 30 (opening weekend) until there's none left. They've even designed a special Williams-Sonoma Gelato Cart, and we're guessing its going to be a classy little set-up judging by Pottery Barn and West Elm's usual visual merchandising prettiness.
"Each of the four Williams-Sonoma Inc brands have such distinct personalities, says Declan Lee, partner at Gelato Messina. "We really wanted to create something bespoke that reflects the brands respectively and appeals to the customers who love them."
Williams-Sonoma has been realised as the Choc-Chuck Cone, made for WS founder Chuck Williams (who loves a spot of vanilla ice cream, apparently). If you're a fan of a good ol' fashioned choc-top, this is next level cinematic goodness from Messina — handmade waffle cone, Madagascan vanilla gelato, dipped in Barry Callebaut 70% cacao chocolate.
West Elm is reppin' Brooklyn as the classic, classy NY Ice Cream Sandwich: Fair Trade espresso coffee gelato snuggled between chewy white chocolate and macadamia cookies.
Pottery Barn is the cornerstone of the collection, as the 'Welcome Home' gelato: lightly-spiced apple gelato fused with a hazelnut crunch and butterscotch swirl. If you can't get to Chatswood Chase for August 30, the Pottery Barn gelato will be available at all Messina stores from August 30 — September 6.
Finally (and most adorably), Pottery Barn Kids boats the most squealworthy of the four creations: Fairy Bread Popsicles. Velvety bread and butter gelato is coated in white chocolate ganache then dipped in hundreds and thousands. Nostalgia is just eekin' out everywhere right now, actual fairy bread gelato.
The new openings come after WS opened its first Australian stores for Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm in Oxford Street Mall, Bondi Junction in May last year. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will open a further four stores in Chadstone Shopping centre late 2014. Here's hoping there's more childhood-inspired bespoke ice cream involved.
The 'Welcome Home' collection will be handed out to customers on Saturday August 30 at Chatswood Chase. The Pottery Barn gelato will be available at all Messina stores from August 30 — September 6.
