Proton VPN x Aries Creates a Blanket That Takes You Home
Source: Aries
Proton VPN, a leading UK tech brand, just collaborated with Aries, a leading UK streetwear brand, to create something that on the surface shouldn't work but absolutely does: a luxury blanket with an embedded chip that unlocks VPN access, giving you the first month free.
And in doing so, it breaks the mold of marketing.
Let that sink in. A luxury product. Embedded tech. Creating a one-of-a-kind product category perhaps for the first time ever.
It's clever on the surface. The target is homesick Gen Z college students studying abroad who want to access their home country's entertainment, sports, and culture while being wrapped in a comforting blanket. Brilliant emotional positioning.
But the real insight is even deeper.
This collaboration signals something much larger about how Gen Z thinks about brands and categories. They don't compartmentalize. Tech isn't separate from fashion. Privacy isn't separate from lifestyle. Connection isn't separate from comfort.
They're all woven together, in this case in a luxury blanket that costs $260.
Historically, luxury fashion brands have avoided tech partnerships. They’ve felt inauthentic, cold, and corporate. Most tech brands avoid fashion collaborations. They’ve felt frivolous and disconnected from function. But Proton VPN and Aries understood something their peers haven't quite yet: marketing now isn't about staying in your lane. It's about having a genuine insight that transcends categories.
Both brands get it. Proton VPN isn't just selling privacy anymore. They're selling connection and freedom. Aries isn't just selling clothing. They're selling comfort and belonging. Together, they're saying that you can have both. And by embedding tech into a tactile, emotional product, they're turning that statement into an emotional call to action.
This is a unique product collaboration because it refuses to choose between comfort and access, between analog and digital, between home and abroad. Gen Z won't choose … they want both.
That's the future of brand collaborations. Stop asking what category you belong in. Start asking what human need you're solving. Then find an unexpected partner who solves it differently, along side you.
What category boundaries is your brand ready to break? Who can you partner with to do that? What’s your experience?
JIM