Limited Too is collaborating with Vita Coco for a ‘Nostalgia Mall’ pop-up
Ten months after relaunching under Kohl’s, early-aughts mall staple Limited Too is rolling out its first brand collaboration as Limited Too 2.0.
For two days, May 9 and 10, Limited Too will debut short-sleeve T-shirts that it designed with the coconut water brand Vita Coco. The shirts can only be obtained in New York City, at a Union Square pop-up that Vita Coco calls the “Nostalgia Mall.” The pop-up will consist of activities like a food court, a braid bar and a photo booth. The shirts, which are available until they run out, come in both tween and adult sizes (XS-XL) and are free of charge.
Collaborations were a key part of the original Limited Too, which sold products like “Lizzie McGuire” sweatshirts and Webkinz plush toys in the 2000s. Now, in its new iteration, Limited Too is looking to partner with contemporary brands to stay up-to-date with trends, nab more sales and reach new customers. In late summer or early fall, it will roll out a back-to-school tween apparel collaboration with The Hershey Company. Going forward, Limited Too aims to launch additional collaborations in swim, sleep and accessories, Amy Robinson Ford, the brand’s design director, told Modern Retail.
Limited Too, which launched in 1987 but was discontinued in 2008, made its return to racks last summer. In its new form, the brand has had to figure out who to cater to: its original fans who are now adults, or today’s teens and tweens experiencing the brand for the first time. So far, Limited Too has tapped into both groups; while it primarily sells youth clothing, it recently expanded into adult sizes and SKUs like pickleball-themed sweatshirts. Now, Limited Too is betting on collaborations with brands in popular categories like food and beverage. Its aim is to appeal to both tweens and adults and stay top-of-mind at a time when many households are watching their dollars.
Robinson Ford told Modern Retail that Limited Too has “the mom and the tween girl in mind in everything we do.”
“When we’re looking for properties [to partner with], we’re looking for something that is unexpected, but definitely tailored to the tween, as well as the parent and guardian,” she went on. “We want an emotional response from both [groups].”
Limited Too is one of a number of brands, ranging from Abercrombie to Hollister to Ugg, that are looking to take advantage of a cultural resurgence of Y2K styles. Still, “fashion is a hard thing to be cross-generational with,” Michelle Lee, chief brand officer of the e-commerce accelerator Front Row Group, told Modern Retail. “To speak to all of those generations in fashion is incredibly difficult to do, unless you’re going for basics,” she said.
In turn, Limited Too is trying to seek out brand partners with wide appeal, that cater to multiple demographics. Limited Too also holds regular focus groups with members of Gen Alpha and Gen Z and asks them questions about what they like and don’t like. “That really helps determine the collabs, as well,” Robinson Ford said. On the brand side, she said, “Whoever we’re partnering with is always very flexible and loves what our brand is all about.”
Limited Too found that Vita Coco was an ideal partner for its first collaboration in more than a decade. Vita Coco is an early aughts brand, having launched in 2003. Vita Coco has also stepped up efforts to reach young audiences and, like Limited Too, is courting new customers, as well as “fans who grew up during the Y2K era,” Jane Prior, Vita Coco’s CMO, told Modern Retail.
Vita Coco initially reached out to Limited Too about collaborating on the “Nostalgia Mall” pop-up, which Vita Coco is using to promote its new Treats line. Vita Coco’s new Orange & Creme flavor taps into “memories of childhood,” Prior said — similar to the nostalgia that Limited Too can invoke. “We knew we wanted a collaborator who could help us bring Y2K nostalgia to life authentically,” Prior said. “Limited Too was at the top of our list.”
Limited Too has a team of designers who make products in-house. Limited Too’s shirts with Vita Coco feature an illustration of an orange flip-phone adorned with the Vita Coco Treats and Limited Too logos. Drawings of oranges and strawberries fill out the rest of the design. One of Limited Too’s upcoming designs with The Hershey Company is a sweatshirt that says “Hershey x Limited Too” and mirrors the look of the signature brown candy bar wrapper.
“We always want to create custom art that is unique to both the [partner] property and Limited Too,” Robinson Ford said. “We’re not just looking to put logos on a shirt. We want every design to be thought-out and special and stand out among other collaborations that are in stores.”