DEPT® returns with The Secret Garden and opens Souvenir Shop with capsule collection at Cannes Lions 2026
Limited daily drop
The limited daily drop anchors the return of DEPT®’s invite-only Secret Garden, where senior leaders from Yahoo, Google, Klarna, Mastercard, OpenAI, PepsiCo and eBay will tackle how brands can grow their business in an AI-shaped market.
After being named one of the standout activations of Cannes Lions 2025, DEPT®’s Secret Garden returns to Cannes, France, from June 23–25.
In a Cannes week defined by volume, the invite-only space just off the Croisette is back. And this time, it comes with a new addition: a limited-edition Souvenir Shop where confirmed guests collect one complimentary item per day, revealed only at pick-up.
A Shop with a limited-edition drop
The Secret Garden Souvenir Shop runs more like a fashion drop: limited quantities, no browsing, and the gifted item is only revealed at pick-up. Guests reserve a collection slot in advance, and what they walk away with is a surprise until they get there. The limited-edition collection includes raffia tote bags, leather travel tags and keychains, ping pong paddles, pétanque, mikado, coasters, and postcards.
The concept is the biggest project led by DEPT®’s internal apparel line, which started during the pandemic. DEPT® Apparel was born as a way of boosting the sense of culture and belonging at a time when Depsters couldn’t be together, and has since expanded into a consistent brand that includes monthly product drops and has done client collaborations with Meta, Red Bull, and Lufthansa. At Cannes, that thinking shows up in physical form: less about merchandise, more about creating something people actually want to keep.
The Secret Garden returns, and it is staying small on purpose
The Secret Garden quickly became one of the standout activations of Cannes 2025, and the 2026 edition remains intentionally limited: a calmer, senior-level space for conversations that go beyond buzzwords and into what is actually changing.
This year’s programme is built around one of the defining shifts in DEPT®’s Growth Invention agenda: the rise of Business-to-Agent marketing. B2A.
CMOs have spent careers mastering the customer journey. That journey has now changed fundamentally. AI agents sit inside the path to purchase, shaping what gets discovered, considered, and recommended before a human is ever involved. Brands that haven’t built a B2A strategy alongside their B2C and B2B work are already losing ground they don’t know they’ve lost. Those are exactly the questions the Secret Garden is designed to answer.
Three questions anchor the agenda:
- How do brands win discoverability and conversion when algorithms and agents increasingly decide what people see, buy, and do?
- What do hybrid creative and technology teams actually look like in practice?
- How does creative craft hold its value when production becomes effectively infinite?
Each day takes a different angle
Tuesday covers building and scaling AI-powered businesses in a B2A world; Wednesday looks at how creativity evolves when culture is driven by communities rather than briefs; Thursday addresses what leadership looks like when AI makes production infinite.
Senior leaders from Mastercard, Snap, eBay, and PepsiCo will be in the room, alongside partners including WFA, OpenAI, Microsoft, TikTok, and Adobe.
“The Secret Garden has always been about doing Cannes differently. Leaders are looking for a blueprint for actual growth, and that is exactly what our programming tackles. But we also wanted to bring a tangible piece of DEPT®’s culture to the Riviera. The Souvenir Shop is a reflection of how we approach everything: crafted with intention, playfully designed, and made to be something you actually want to keep.
”Dimi Albers, Global CEO of DEPT®
Access is by invitation and confirmed registration
Senior brand, marketing, technology, and creative leaders can register interest here. Confirmed guests will also be able to reserve a collection slot for the Souvenir Shop during its daily opening window.
