• by Danielle Oster , September 13, 2023

Cheetos recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, and the Frito-Lay brand went big on collaborative mementos to mark the occasion, tapping into the culinary and fashion worlds as part of its “Mark of Mischief” big birthday bash.

Notably, the brand left its mischievous mark on fashion’s biggest event. Cheetos crashed New York Fashion Week last week, taking the runway with a Cheetos dust -- or “Cheetle” -- inspired clothing line created by New York City-based fashion historian and stylist Gabriel Held.

"With the help of style icon and notorious animal-print-lover Chester Cheetah, we showcased styles that are as timeless and bold as Cheetos and put a lasting orange paw print on the fashion industry," Held noted in a release. (Isn’t there something a little unsettling about a cheetah being an animal-print connoisseur, though?)

In the latest example of the food-meets-fashion collab phenomenon (see also: Halo Top’s Pint Pack), the brand also unveiled a limited-edition handbag, modeled on the runway by fashion influencers Jaime Xie and Jazzelle. The bag was designed by fashion brand Collina Strada, which partnered with footwear and apparel brand Vans earlier this year on its Vans x Collina Collection, and is clearly in high demand for such projects.

Of course, no birthday is complete without cake. So Cheetos collaborated with Milk Bar -- the dessert powerhouse founded by James Beard-award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi as a New York hotspot that has since expanded into the world of CPG -- for a Cheetos Milk Bar birthday cake. The cake, which features Cheetle-infused birthday frosting, rainbow-flecked cake, and crunchy Cheetos throughout the layers, is available for a limited time at Milk Bar’s website or one of its flagship locations in New York or Los Angeles.

"Out-of-the-box flavor combinations are what I love about baking,” Tosi said in a statement, adding that Cheetos dipped into vanilla frosting have long been her “dirty dessert secret."

As a finishing touch, the brand is also leaving its mischievous mark in another unexpected place, offering up the limited-edition, five-piece Flamin' Hot Cheetos x Alamar Cosmetics makeup collection for fans who want to look like they just ate a bag of Cheetos.