Rebelle | NEED WEED Series

Rebelle, the cannabis retail brand by Charlotte Hanna, founder of Community Growth Partners, is a female-founded and minority-owned company providing ethically focused and locally sourced cannabis products and accessories. 

Embodying the true style of NYC, the brand was first created and launched in Brooklyn in 2019, with its flagship dispensary—described as “Apple store meets spa,”—located in the heart of the Berkshires, which opened in October 2020. Their retail items include leather goods, stash bags, jewelry, and apparel, in addition to a variety of cannabis products such as pre-rolls, edibles, tinctures and concentrates.

Flaunt talked to Charlotte Hanna about her motive for creating the company, the #needweed campaign, and her plans for 2022.

What led you to take a totally integrated approach to a cannabis lifestyle brand, including goods, apparel, flower, etc?

I think to really understand why we took this approach you first need to understand the types of changes we want to see in the industry. The short version is that all of us here have set out to make social justice and equitable practices the new norm and generally speaking to shift the perception of cannabis as a whole. Our objective is to bring cannabis into the worlds of beauty and luxury while we work to shed the stigmas it still carries. So in order to make a large-scale impact on the industry and culture, we must operate on every level and understand the full scope of the industry. 

We’ve gone ahead and not only launched a cannabis brand, but are turning it into a real tool for amplification of that message. Without a fully integrated approach that touches every segment of the industry, we simply wouldn’t be able to accomplish this larger mission. So in essence, everything we do to expand our brand and further integrate it are a reflection of us wanting to be able to reach all types of people in all corners of the cannabis industry. 

What about the ethos of Rebelle makes it stand out from other cannabis brands? Talk about the #needweed campaign with Honeysuckle. How do you hope to bring cannabis into broader culture?
Above all else, we clearly and effectively convey that cannabis and cannabis culture are something refined, that should be honored and celebrated, not hidden and shamed. This of course ties into our larger missions of shifting mass perception around cannabis, but what we really do that makes us stand out is that we actively elevate cannabis for our customers. 

Making the brand experience feel as if it is worth celebrating and reveling in will result in people doing that. A big part of this for us is our #NEEDWEED campaign which is covering the streets of NYC. This campaign clearly evokes feelings of excitement and opportunity, but does so while very much being about weed. Showing people that this is not a conversation to be had behind closed doors, but something to proudly engage with. We want to of course continue bringing these infusions of our brand story and brand identity to a larger audience and are planning some big things in 2022 to do so!

Do you hope to do more work with performers, personalities, etc? What does Rebelle have planned for 2022?

The short answer is, yes! Performers and personalities are a big part of how we message our brand and we will continue this for 2022. In addition, we will expand the physical footprint of the brand, we want to take the voice and presence to the next level too. We’re aiming for a series which highlights personalities who are creatives working within or in touch with the social justice space. We have found that working with the people who are out there creating the culture and leading the way in their own right results in the most honest and impactful collaborations. We’ll also definitely be engaging with more performers and celebs throughout 2022, we have a lot to show the industry and some big names have taken notice! 

 We have a strategy in place to get Rebelle out there even more in the new year. Our cultivation site will be coming online and we’ll be launching our very own collection of wellness products this spring as well. We’re really excited to define ourselves in the production space and to get our branded products to market where we will further bridge the gap between cannabis and a modern elevated lifestyle that is stigma-free.