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Christmas Is Almost Here So Maybe You Should Get Us This Harvey Nichols Chocolate, OK?

by Bill McCool on 11/12/2020 | 3 Minute Read

Harvey Nichols should probably stop packaging their chocolates with these gorgeous, shimmering geometric patterns, especially if they want us to actually eat the damn thing. Like most things at your grandmother's house, you probably shouldn't touch this. So next time, maybe just have Smith &+Village throw it in a paper bag and call it a day, will you?


"Smith &+ Village design the most fashionable chocolate bars for Harvey Nichols

Creative Agency Smith &+ Village are pleased to announce the release of six new luxury chocolate bars for Harvey Nichols, the latest line in their ongoing reimagination of own brand food and drink for the iconic department store. These drop-dead desirable items look and feel more like glamorous clutch bags than anything consumable.

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The bold packaging design appeals to tastemakers and fashion mavens and is irresistibly sharable, online and IRL. The HN monogram resized and repeated becomes a striking geometric pattern in a fearlessly stylish collection of gifts you can eat. Rather than a traditional box shape, two flat sides fold on long edges. Strong colour and different chocolate tones give a flavour of what’s inside.

Editorial photograph
Editorial photograph

“We used embossed golden shapes for a hint of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Golden Ticket, says Debrah Smith, Creative Director of Smith and Village, “and the tear strip on the back opens into a Millenial pink interior. All credit to Harvey Nichols, we showed them what we wanted to do and they just said go for it.”

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The long, elegant chocolate bar in a biodegradable corn starch wrapper. The chocolate bar itself is moulded in HN shapes, echoing the packaging, so rather than breaking off a square of chocolate, you can have half an ‘N’ or even a whole ‘H’.

Playful copy sets the tone for joyful gift giving, and describes what’s inside in terms of sensation and taste. The Dark Interesting Exotic One contains cocoa from the rich volcanic soils of the Solomon Islands, while The Milky Childhood Favourite is a grown-up take on white chocolate. The Moodiest, Most Mysterious One is a dark chocolate from Mindanao in the Philippines, with hints of fig, honey and citrus. The Naughty But Nice, Caramel One has a fabulous amber colour and notes of toffee, butter and cream. The Not Too Dark, Not Too Sweet One is a 41% cocoa milk chocolate, andThe Silkiest, Milkiest, Meltiest One combines intense cocoa with intense dairy. 

The range of six bars were created exclusively for Harvey Nichols by Aneesh Popat, a multi-award-winning cocoa maestro who has been described as “the Heston Blumenthal of the chocolate world” 

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Editorial photograph

Food and drink meet fashion

The range is part of Smith &+ Village’s ongoing reimagination of food and drink for the iconic department store. The agency’s repositioning means the range behaves much more like a fashion and lifestyle brand, summed up as a ‘fearlessly stylish collection of gifts you can eat.’ The agency won a DBA Design Effectiveness Award for its work on the range. https://effectivedesign.org.uk/winners/2020/silver/harvey-nichols

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For more information on Smith &+ Village’s work for Harvey Nichols: https://www.smithandvillage.com/harveynicholscollection

The chocolate range is available to buy at https://www.harveynichols.com

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