field notes: coffee, cars & topicals
a experiential event concept, because sometimes the best ideas start as "what if" ft. Topicals skincare
Brooklyn’s coffee and cars scene has been building for a while now. People have been craving IRL experiences again, spaces with that cool, vintage-industrial theme have been circulating on social media for how effortlessly cool the whole vibe feels, and Field Study, a cars and coffee spot in Williamsburg is exactly that kind of place.
@cindykodua / tiktok
But looks alone don’t build connection, culture does. And there’s a brand that comes to mind with exactly that kind of culture, one that could bring its own energy into that space instead of just borrowing the aesthetic: Topicals.
Topicals was built by Olamide Olowe, and from the first day it never acted like skincare had to fit into a specific box. Faded, their brightening serum, comes in packaging that looks like it belongs on a sticker sheet, not a pharmacy shelf. Their whole mission ties skin to mental health, community and actually feeling good in your skin, not just looking a certain way. They’ve never played it safe about where they show up either. That’s the exact energy Field Study already has in the room, confident, a little rebellious, unwilling to sit quietly in its category. Topicals wouldn’t be borrowing this space’s cool aesthetic. It would be adding to it.
So here’s my experiential event idea: Coffee, Cars & Topicals, hosted after dark at Field Study. Same vintage cars, same cortados, plus a Topicals table set up next to the espresso bar, with Faded eye patches worn around the event, the same way someone would show off a fresh detail on their car.
The slogan for the event is “skin deep, community deeper”. “Only skin deep” is actually shorthand for something superficial, a phrase people use when they want to say that what’s on the surface isn’t worth taking seriously. This campaign reverses it. Skin deep isn’t shallow here, it’s worth caring about, on its own terms, without needing to be excused or minimized. And then the slogan pushes one step further: community runs even deeper than that.
An event is only as good as the music, too, and part of community is connecting over songs. We’re spinning a classic, soulful vinyl like The Main Ingredient's "Let Me Prove My Love to You" and DeBarge's "Stay With Me" to match the vintage vibe, alongside a live DJ set ready to seamlessly mix in current cultural anthems like Yung Miami's "Spend Dat" to completely shift the energy.
That’s the actual thesis of the event, not just a catchy line. The product, the patches, the routine of putting one on, is the entry point. It’s what gets someone to stop, try something, start a conversation with a stranger next to a car they’ve never seen up close. But the product was never the only point of staying. The connection built around it, the conversation, the shared moment, the memory of taking pictures with how you both look with pink patches under your eyes, that’s what actually earns loyalty. People come back for how a place, and a brand, made them feel less alone in a room full of strangers.
That’s also why this works with somewhere like Field Study. A phrase like “community deeper” needs an actual community to prove it. Field Study already has one, people who show up regularly, who treat the space like a third place, not just a coffee stop. Topicals isn’t manufacturing a community from nothing. It’s stepping into one that already exists and giving it one more reason to gather.
Beyond just being a cute pairing, Field Study’s whole appeal is that it treats care as identity. The cars are maintained obsessively, the coffee is intentional, and nothing about the space is careless. That is structurally the exact same instinct skincare asks people to have about their own skin. I haven’t seen anyone connect those two forms of care before, mainly because skincare marketing tends to live in aspirational spaces, while car culture lives in gritty, technical ones. Putting Topicals inside an environment that already has a “care as a lifestyle” ethos baked in means the brand doesn’t have to convince anyone that care matters; the room is already built around that belief.
And that’s really the bigger differentiator here. Anyone can run an ad. What actually builds loyalty is giving people an entire world they can physically step into, one that already has its own aesthetic, its own rituals, its own regulars, so the brand isn’t performing a lifestyle, it’s just present inside one that already exists. That’s a much harder thing to copy than a basic campaign.
Extras for the night:
Custom Car Keychains: Branded, pink vintage-style motel keychains featuring the Skin Deep, Community Deeper slogan on one side and Topicals on the other. A perfect, tactile takeaway for guests to add to their car keys, keeping Topicals top of mind on every commute.
The Late-Night Drink Menu: A one-night-only signature evening drink called the Topicals Glow Latte featuring a warm cinnamon honey latte infused with collagen peptides. The drink is finished with a custom stenciled Topicals logo dusted in cinnamon right on top of the foam for a perfect photo moment.
Polaroid Detailing Station: Leaning into the analog, IRL, vinyl-inspired energy of the night by taking Polaroids of guests wearing their Faded eye patches next to the vintage cars, given to them on custom backing cards.
Sending this to the CEO of Topicals, Olamide ASAP.
:)
Brand World: Inside Topicals