Forget everything you've learned about stoner comedies. These days, 4:20 is no longer associated with late wake-and-bake dude duos who embark on a serendipitous adventure — although that wouldn't be a bad storyline for Beboe, a new SoCal-based luxury cannabis brand founded by two legends in the ink and fashion worlds.
Created by renowned tattoo artist Scott Campbell (who opened his first West Coast outpost in DTLA last year) and fashion industry veteran Clement Kwan, the stylish brand aims to help normalize marijuana, long known to be a vice among successful creatives but most often associated with ne'er-do-well types. The upscale label offers single-use, pre-filled vaporizers ($60, each containing half a gram of a THC and CBD Sativa blend) ready to fuel your next social gathering, and organic cannabis pastilles ($25) designed to absorb quickly and efficiently. In other words, Beboe's here to bring cannabis consumption to new heights.
Beboe currently delivers within Los Angeles through Sequoia Wellness and Eaze and can also be picked up at select dispensaries throughout California.
Here, we chat with Campbell — who recently relocated from NYC to LA with his wife, actress and director Lake Bell — and Kwan to find out how a family recipe of special "cat nip" brownies helped inspire the brand, their favorite cannabis-loving figures, and more. Read on to get to know Beboe's story, then find out how to buy it over at the brand's website.
How did the two of you meet, and what inspired you both to team up and create Beboe?
SC: We met on a trip to Detroit about four years ago and bonded over being cannabis growers before moving to New York. We fantasized about how to get back into it now that it was becoming decriminalized, and in a way that would make use of our years of experience in New York.
Scott, at what age did you realize that your mother's brownies were "special," and how did that shape your views of cannabis?
SC: My sister and I always knew they were "special" and she got them because she was sick. They became this mystical thing for us kids. I remember one time watching grandma make them, trying to figure out the magic. For years, I would tell my friends in hushed whispers that my mom had special brownies made with cat nip. Then of course, ten years later, my father explained to me that it wasn't a bag of cat nip.
What's the inspiration behind the brand's packaging?
SC: I'm not religious, but have always been moved by church reliquaries [and] precious little things in ornate glass boxes. I rarely knew what was encased in those shrines, but it was obvious that someone was very proud of it. I feel the same way about Beboe products. They're incredible special and precious to me. I'm proud of them, so I want to treat and package them with reverence.
Clement, though you're already an experienced grower, what was it like transitioning from fashion to the cannabis industry, and how are the two alike and different?
CK: Passion — that's the main driver in both industries. It's not necessarily the aesthetic, it's applying the idea that no time or expense is spared in creating the best version of the cannabis experience possible. The highest quality product is presented in a tasteful and intelligent way [and] the customer needs to be served in a proper way. That's what makes for great, luxury brands. It's about creating a beautiful product, crafting the narrative, and putting it into context, which is important in the cannabis industry. That's what we ultimately apply to cannabis from our past lives.
What in particular attracted you both to growing cannabis as a craft?
CK: We built Beboe for ourselves and our friends. We wanted something lower-dosed, but of the highest quality, and packaged in a way that reflects brands that people with discerning taste appreciate. We envisioned something that would attract people who like what we like from within the fashion and art worlds. The hope is that our product can be a soapbox for our advocacy.
The marijuana industry has definitely come a long way, especially now that several states have legalized cannabis. Where do you see Beboe in the next five years?
CK: Our vision is to produce and curate a family of cannabis products that are held to a higher standard of quality and taste level than anything else out there.
Who are a few of your cannabis-loving heroes?
SC & CK: Ed Rosenthal, Steve DeAngelo, and Barack Obama.
