Ayesha Curry’s Sweet July Brand Lands in Bloomingdale’s
Even before Thanksgiving has arrived, Ayesha Curry is getting into the holiday spirit.
“I am excited to give gifts this year,” Curry told WWD. “I started making my lists already of, like, who I am going to give to and what I am going to give.”
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Olive oil, loungewear, beauty products and travel kits are some of her top picks. Many of these are “things that I would actually use on a daily basis. Because I hate when you get a gift that’s just…it might look cool, or whatever, but it’s just not functional,” Curry said.
The chef, author, media personality and Oakland, Calif.-based entrepreneur is showing off her selects — all products that can be found on her digital platform Sweet July — while in Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship. Curry is there to unveil the department store’s latest carousel: “The Greatest Gifts With Ayesha Curry.” She’s also cohosting a home entertaining series in Bloomingdale’s B Kitchen with fellow chef and television personality Jordan Andino.
“I’m nervous,” she confided. “So nervous. I’m always nervous. Anything live, it’s kind of nerve-wrecking. But it’s because I care — a lot.”
That may seem ironic for someone who is one half of a Hollywood power couple. Curry is married to Golden State Warriors NBA star Stephen Curry. The duo has graced the red carpet at the Met Gala together and even launched their own reality television show earlier this year. Curry is also famous in her own right. She’s a two-time New York Times bestselling author and was featured on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in 2018.
It’s no surprise then that the live segment with Andino, which aired on bloomingdales.com on Wednesday, went well, despite Curry’s initial apprehension.
The on-screen event showcased products from Sweet July available in the store’s carousel, or what Andino playfully described on camera as the “Curry-sel.” The duo was also able to share tips and tricks for holiday entertaining with viewers and talk about their shared passion: cooking.
“I just love food so much,” Curry said. “It’s my love language. It’s the only way that I know how to show people that I love them: through a good meal. And I love the vessel that it is for love and change and bringing people together and community. So for me, that’s kind of where the love for [Sweet July] stems from.”
Bloomingdale’s holiday carousel with Curry opened earlier this month and features products that can be found on Sweet July. The lifestyle platform, which Curry founded, features content and products in food, wellness and fashion. Bloomingdale’s rotating pop-up shop, meanwhile, aligns with the retailer’s 150th anniversary celebration.
“I feel like we went through hundreds and hundreds of products [for the carousel],” said Curry, who serves as Sweet July’s chief executive officer. “And for me, it was really gravitating toward those grab-and-go items that you don’t have to think too much about for the holidays and could really be for anybody.
“Getting to do this collaboration has definitely made it easier on me [to find gifts], because everything is packaged and ready to go,” she added. “So a lot of people will be getting our own Sweet July stuff as a gift for the holidays.”
Sweet July’s in-store selection includes decorative pillows, fragrances, cooking utensils, candles, coffee drinks, pajamas, kids stuff, cutesy stationery supplies and more. More than 150 items in total are sprinkled throughout the carousel from brands such as Unwrp, Furbish, Dear Annabelle, Emi Jay, The Mayfair Group, 54 Thrones and Montserrat New York, as well as the Sweet July brand. Many of them are female-founded brands. There are also Sweet July bundles, or curated boxes of Sweet July products that Curry and her team pre-selected to make gifting easier.
Curry said all items can be purchased a la carte on Sweetjuly.com, but the partnership with Bloomingdale’s lasts through Jan. 12.
“It was such an honor that they let me curate this section of the store,” Curry said. In fact, when Bloomingdale’s first reached out to the brand, the founder and CEO was incredulous.
“At first, I was like, ‘They want me to do this?’” Curry explained. “So I was grateful for the opportunity. It was an automatic yes. And a double check yes once they said you can pick everything that goes into the store. Not only can you include your own brands, but you could also include anything else that you like. I’m just grateful that they gave us so much creative freedom on picking the brands that [Sweet July] would be alongside with here in the store and giving us so much freedom to decide what that would look like.
“It’s crazy; it’s insane to see [Sweet July] in a store like this, you know?” she continued. “Because we’ve always seen it only in our [own] brick-and-mortar. So to have it be part of something so big, like Bloomingdale’s, I think is really exciting for us as a team and kind of a dream come true for me.”
Sweet July’s partnership with Bloomingdale’s marks the brands first time in wholesale. Sweet July products are available on the website, which Curry launched in 2020, individually or by way of the Sweet July subscription boxes. There is also a Sweet July store and cafe in Oakland, Calif., and a quarterly Sweet July print magazine, a partnership that started with Meredith Corp. in 2019. Meredith was acquired by Dotdash in December 2021 and is now Dotdash Meredith.
More things are coming for Sweet July in 2023, including its own branded skin care line.
“It revolves around food as well,” Curry said. “Because I feel like what you put on your body should be able to go into your body and have the benefit as well.”
For now, the entrepreneur said she’s “just honored that [Bloomingdale’s] chose us to celebrate their 150th. It sounds crazy — the 150th anniversary — especially around the holidays. It’s such a big deal here in New York. So I’m just honored they chose us and gave us an opportunity to curate this little spot in the store.”
