Brand Spotlight: Cherry LA

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Cherry LA is a brand that sells nostalgia: for americana and 80s innocence in backwoods America. You can see it in the imagery they produce: our parents’ lives, if they were woodsy. Hikes, camping, Reagan’s America.

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Cherry plays with the intersection of Americana and modern streetwear, designing elevated streetwear pieces such as fleeces, hoodies and track pants that are staples for the modern 20-something. They also offer pricey coach and racing jackets. 

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Their price point ($300 for a sweatshirt) and their physical location (their only) is on Melrose just off Melrose Place. This is a brand for LA kids.

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Their imagery intermingles autoracing and cowboy culture which strongly builds on this sense of nostalgia. 

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Moreover, there is a surprising element: a partnership with Red Bull Racing, whose logo adorns many of their pieces and their physical location has the cockpit of an F1 car in the middle.

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So, what’s their brand strategy?

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There are three dynamics at play: the story and aesthetic of Americana (backwoods, ranches, apple pie, youth)-- which is the crucible of the entire brand story and strategy, intermingled with seemingly out-of-left field touches such as the Red Bull Racing partnership, which we will explore a little later, and the streetwear pieces they sell. 

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Their starting collections were rooted in streetwear and a 90s aesthetic with a sprinkle of chicano culture, but over time, potentially thanks to higher budgets (therefore higher production value), they have leaned hard into the americana aesthetic through their content and lookbooks.

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They have utilised influencers well, Cherry is often called “Justin Bieber’s favourite brand” and have used Hailey Beiber and Checo Perez as models for their clothing. They have also tapped into LA-local celebrities such as rappers and models. 

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They built brand loyalty by being focused and consistent visually and using physical locations and pop-ups to stand out and build on their community such as the Cherry House (they painted a house in LA red).

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Their visual inspirations are Richard Prince (for the cowboy aesthetic), Charles Marion Russell, Tarantino and early 2000s pop culture.