The fragrance house has transformed an Islington ice cream bar into an immersive activation celebrating its new gourmand home fragrance
Loewe Perfumes has taken over an ice cream bar in Islington, London, to launch its new pistachio-scented candle, with the pop-up running through July 30. The launch arrives as pistachio has become one of the most in-demand flavors in recent memory, a rise fueled in large part by the popularity of pistachio-filled Dubai chocolate.
The house describes the scent as medium to high intensity, built around a creamy, gourmand profile meant to evoke the fruit of the pistachio tree itself. Unlit, the candle is designed to read as delicate and milky, with a nutty character close to the raw seed, and the house says that profile shifts once lit, turning rounder and sweeter with a warmer, more indulgent depth. That progression gives the product a built-in narrative arc, moving from something closer to raw ingredient to something closer to dessert, which tracks with the ice cream pop-up format rather than working against it.
The format matters more than the product here. Rather than building a traditional campaign or launch event around the candle, Loewe Perfumes has opted for a low-pressure, community-oriented touchpoint that invites people in without requiring a purchase. That kind of experiential approach tends to build brand affinity more durably than direct promotion, since it gives consumers a positive association with the brand before any transaction takes place.
The pop-up also reflects a wider pattern among fragrance and beauty houses, which have increasingly turned to food-adjacent, experience-driven activations to build cultural relevance ahead of a purchase decision. For Loewe Perfumes, tying a candle launch to a flavor already carrying its own cultural momentum gives the activation a built-in hook, even for people who walk away with nothing more than an ice cream cone.
