Cannabis has gone high-end.
Barneys New York aims to light up the marijuana market with its own posh pot boutique called The High End, a head shop of sorts selling smokers’ accessories from rolling papers and leather ashtrays to bespoke glass bongs and cannabis-infused candies. The company will roll out these luxury marijuana accessories at its Beverly Hills location in March, with other locations in California to follow.
The high-end marijuana accessories are for ‘ex-punk rock stoner kids who now make a little money and can buy nice stuff.’ —Beboe co-founder Scott Campbell
The department store teamed up with Los Angeles-based cannabis purveyor Beboe — referred to as the “Hermès of Marijuana” by fans and its celebrity clientele — to curate pricey products for the shop and market them to defy the traditional stereotype of marijuana being the drug of choice for unmotivated, broke potheads with the munchies. Or, as Beboe co-founder Scott Campbell says the accessories are for “ex-punk rock stoner kids who now make a little money and can buy nice stuff.”
The global marijuana market is estimated to hit $31.4 billion by 2021, up from approximately $7.7 billion currently, according to data published by Forbes citing cannabis market research firm Brightfield Group.
“We kind of made something that’s a little more grown up,” Campbell told MarketWatch, describing the brand’s clientele as “dinner party culture people.”
Stylish stoners can browse through items like a sterling-silver pot grinder for $1,475, $80 sterling-silver vaporizer pens, seven pre-rolled joints for $68, and $160 gift boxes complete CBD and THC vapes and edibles. There will also be CBD-infused beauty products from brands like Malin + Goetz and Body Vibes.
Barneys New York aims to capture the more canna-curious, Manolo Blahnik-wearing clientele.
California legalized marijuana in January 2018 and is now the country’s largest legal marijuana market. Consumers must be at least 21 to purchase it, but if you’re between the ages of 18 and 20 you need a doctor’s prescription. Sales tax on weed ranges from 7.5% to 10% depending on the county, plus a 15% state tax.
Since Beboe launched in 2017, co-founder Clement Kwan confirmed to MarketWatch that the brand’s revenue has grown 4 to 5 times year-over-year and has doubled its distribution year-over-year. With 66% of Americans saying they support the federal legalization of marijuana, Barneys aims to capture the more canna-curious, Manolo Blahnik-wearing clientele.
Beboe did not give specifics on its clientele. However, its demographic skews more female.
“We’ve witnessed a cultural shift when it comes to cannabis, and many of our customers have made it a part of their lifestyle,” said Matthew Mazzucca, creative director at Barneys New York. “With the High End, we’ve created a category that caters to their need with the same level of quality and service they expect from everything they find at Barneys New York.”
‘When you bring it out at a party, you don’t want to look like an amateur in your college days.’ —Jessica Cadmus, founder of Rogue Paq
Outside of Barneys, other entrepreneurs have made a business of selling cannabis products to the 1%. New York-based Fashion stylist Jessica Cadmus, founder of Rogue Paq, was inspired to design her own luxury cannabis accessories last year when she discovered her wealthy, three-comma club clients on the West Coast were dressed to the nines in Chanel and Tom Ford, but toting around their recreational weed in un-chic containers you’d find in a college dorm.
“I’ve literally found shoe boxes,” Cadmus told MarketWatch. “I’ve seen just straight up Ziploc bags.”
Cadmus, who helps Wall Street executives choose clothes, noticed a need for bespoke vessels for C-suite types to store cannabis and associated smoking paraphernalia like grinders and vape pens for clients in states where recreational marijuana is legal.
Sapphire Collective sells a $18,850 white gold necklace shaped like a joint, with 76 orange and silver sapphires, and 12 white diamonds on a platinum chain.
She designed her own under the named Rogue Paq, a carrying case shaped like a joint that rolls up and unfolds into three compartments to store the goods. The water-resistant packs come in a supple lambskin variety for $325, or in a pebbled vegan leather for $225. For an extra $15, cannabis connoisseurs can get their initials engraved.
“When you bring it out at a party, you don’t want to look like an amateur in your college days,” she said.
Jewelry designers have also embraced marijuana-inspired designs. Los Angeles-based Sapphire Collective claims to have the first line of high-end cannabis inspired jewelry crafted using sapphires, diamonds and solid 18-karat yellow, white and rose gold. It sells a $18,850 white gold necklace shaped like a lighted joint embellished with 76 orange and silver sapphires accented with 12 white diamonds on a platinum chain.
Another company called The Tree Trunk specializes in lockable cigar-like weed storage cases that come with USB charging ports for $2,250. And portable vaporizer brand PuffCo sells battery-packed bongs for upwards of $379.
“The cannabis genie is out of the bottle to a point now where it’s not ever going back in,” Scott Campbell, co-founder of Beboe said. “People are embracing it, and accepting it. And it’s finding its place in contemporary culture.”
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