Fast Company – May 2019

28 FASTCOMPANY.COM MAY 2019

Marijuana has come a long way from the
days of plastic baggies and glass jars filled
with OG Kush and Sticky Icky Icky. Today’s
cannabis (née weed) is sold in posh retail
outlets, which stock dozens of different
products, from medicinal-style vaporizers
to THC-infused candies, aimed at veteran
users and neophytes alike. In the past year,
$2.2 billion of venture capital has flowed
into 324 cannabis deals globally, according
to research firm CB Insights. In the United
States, many of the deals are rooted in Cali-
fornia, the largest legal market, where rec-
reational use has been legal since 2018 and

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N Trendspotting

IN THE

WEEDS

TO STAND OUT IN THE CROWD,

CANNABIS COMPANIES ARE

GETTING CREATIVE WITH THEIR

LIFESTYLE BRANDING.
BY RUTH READER

consumer-facing companies are scrambling

to turn what is essentially a commodity

product into something more distinctive.

“There’s a chance to create a Levi’s, Coca-

Cola, or a Kleenex of a new industry,” says

Sean Black, cofounder of Santa Barbara’s Low-

ell Herb Co. His two-year-old business special-

izes in prerolled joints packed in vintage-style

boxes, complete with letterpress inking, foil

stamps, and a set of green-tipped matches.

For that throwback vibe, users pay roughly

$70 for 14 joints. The company also sells

bucolic $300 bouquets of marijuana flowers

and eucalyptus stems. San Francisco–based

Defoncé (“high” in French) similarly uses

design to elevate its chocolates from the ed-

ible masses. CEO Eric Eslao, a former Apple

producer, says that the signature origami-like

pattern on his chocolate bars ($20) is based on

a quilted Burberry jacket that he once wore,

while the company’s elegant packaging owes

a debt to Apple’s industrial design.

Brands in the crowded vaporizer space,

meanwhile, are jostling for attention by

appealing to different demographics. The

fashion-forward Beboe, cofounded by L.A.

tattoo artist Scott Campbell and Clement

Kwan, a former Yoox and Dolce & Gabbana

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