Greggs Sandals Footwear Slingback Clogs Size 8 Primark Black Faux Fur-Lined

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The tie-up between high street giant Primark and pastry gurus Greggs features 21 pieces, including crocs and boxer shorts. When Greggs sausage rolls appeared in the window display of Newcastle's Primark store earlier this month most people thought it was a hilarious joke.

Greggs is also, unusually, seen as a brand worth its salt. “Despite being a large chain in the UK, it still manages to project a sort of humble egalitarianism,” says Matthew Whitehouse, editor of the iconic youth culture magazine The Face. “To paraphrase Andy Warhol, a steak bake is a steak bake.” Plus, he says, citing staff bonuses and free breakfasts for primary schoolchildren, “it appears to be a really brilliantly run company.” The errant baked goods prompted a lot of speculation about the collaboration on social media at the weekend. One commenter, whose tweet received thousands of likes, said: “Shoutout to whichever stone cold legend at Newcastle Primark has accidentally left a load of Greggs in the window display.” It’s seen as an unpretentious and affordable brand,” says Poile, “and people want to align themselves with that everyday quality.” This is perhaps particularly true at a time when national discourse is dominated by talk of elitism; a bumbag with a sausage roll on it couldn’t be further from a prime ministerial hopeful wearing Prada loafers if it tried. A pop-up boutique will also support the partnership and open in Soho, London on 17 - 18 February to “offer eager fashionistas the chance to get their hands on some of the new collection before the rest of the nation”. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ So, what does it take to make such an unexpected pairing work and why is the Greggs x Primark crossover a match made in heaven? The 'merchi-fication' of F&B

Set to launch right on the doorstep of London Fashion Week later this month, the Greggs x Primark clothing collection adeptly flips the narrative of what it takes to look good, enabling those who may traditionally have been excluded from the exclusive world of high-fashion to get their own taste of the action in a way that works for them.

While this trend is only in its infancy in the UK, collaborations between FMCG, F&B or CPG brands and the world of fashion have become almost de rigueur over the pond. From Panera’s ‘soup’ swimsuits and SunnyD’s bold bobble hats, to the release of Oscar Mayer’s revamped ‘Hotdogger’ uniforms to the public [which BrandOpus worked on], the ‘merchi-fication’ of brands is one of the more humorous marketing trends to evolve in the last few years.

Yet I’m loath to put Greggs in the same box as Wetherspoons and Primark. There is a nostalgia to Greggs pastries, born of after school treats and work breaks and a national consensus on the merits of sausage, bean and cheese melts. What’s more, the business is committed to causes and communities local to its branches, and has been since 1939 – and god help me, it’s pastries are good; hot, flaky, the pasty just the tiniest bit squidgy on the inside, the warm buttery aroma emanating through that paper bag, with its familiar blue and orange lettering. I’ve been there; I’ve eaten it – and whilst I draw the line at buying the t-shirt, I rather suspect this will be one of the most iconic collabs of all time. But despite the frivolity at its core, there is function to these tie-ups too – and therefore significant brand value in pursuing them, so long as you bear the following in mind: Leave ‘serious’ at the door Greggs has teased its latest collaboration with Primark which will be on sale from Tuesday November 29, 2022. Greggs and Primark will open a pop-up boutique in Soho between 17 and 18 February to “offer eager fashionistas the chance to get their hands on some of the new collection before the rest of the nation”, with two pieces available for free to those who manage to secure a slot when bookings open on 10 February. Taking such an approach also enables both brands to capitalize on the ‘hype’ of being limited and to benefit from the halo effect of exclusivity previously reserved for achingly cool brands like Supreme. You can’t buy these collections in the traditional sense, but you can ‘cop’ them through fervent dedication to the brand. This subtle dig at the growing ‘uncoolness’ of millennial hype culture – scorned by Gen Z, who prefer unfiltered to curated feeds – is also cognizant of the fact the hierarchy of what’s in and what’s not is shifting.

Critically, both Greggs and Primark know what they are not: aspirational or high fashion. This self-awareness is essential to ensuring that anything they launch, outside of business-as-usual products, remains authentic and keeps the public ’in on the joke’. Streetwear lines from unexpected brands work best when they poke fun at a fashion industry, which can often take itself too seriously. Primark’s social media account also mysteriously displayed a Greggs receipt alongside a quizzical emoji.