Annie Atkins – Collaboration with Piaf Artisan Chocolatier
Exquisite taste
10 years ago, Annie designed the packaging for the Korean luxury chocolate maker Piaf Artisan Chocolatier’s boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day (and the Korean equivalent White Day). Now, a decade later, the founder, owner and Chef Chocolatier of Piaf, Ko Eun-Su, invited Annie to revisit her design for Valentine’s Day 2025. We’re afraid both the Valentine and White Day versions were limited editions and sold out almost immediately. So, you’ll just have to imagine some of the new flavours that were included this time, like sweet and sour apple with savoury peanut butter, ‘Geysha Butterscotch’, and whiskey. And look at the images here.
We spoke to both Ko and Annie about their collaboration:
Ko
How did you learn about Annie’s graphic design work?
In 2014, I was on a 35-hour journey to Peru to visit a cacao plantation. Somewhere over the Pacific, I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel on the small screen of the plane. It was actually my first Wes Anderson film – though I’ve watched all of his films since.
What struck me about The Grand Budapest Hotel wasn’t just the director’s signature use of colour and composition. What made it feel truly special were the props that added depth and believability to this fictional world – like the stationery, the pastry boxes, and other pieces of design that quietly carried the story’s emotional weight. Many of those items, I would later learn, were created by Annie Atkins.
And then there was the Mendl’s box. That pink box captured the imagination of so many people, myself included. It might be one of the most copied props in cinema history—replicas of it even started appearing in dessert shops in Korea.
But rather than trying to imitate this beautiful and covetable design, I had a different thought: what if we reached out to the person who made it in the first place, and asked her or him to create something original for our own Valentine’s Day collection?
What was it that attracted you to her design?
At first, it was the beauty of the design itself – the colours, the lettering, the meticulous detail. But more than that, Annie’s work held something rare: a sense of nostalgia that only someone who truly loves a particular era can convey. There are many designers who can mimic vintage or antique styles, but Annie’s pieces feel like they were made by someone who lives and breathes that time period.
That emotional connection is what drew me in. Our chocolate shop has always been rooted in the traditions of classic French chocolaterie, and Annie’s designs – steeped in what she once described as the “Heyday of Europe” – felt like the perfect visual match for our world. To have her design our Valentine’s box wasn’t just a good idea—it felt like a dream.
Have you collaborated with other designers?
Yes, over several Valentine’s Day seasons, I’ve worked with other designers – mainly in Korea. Since I’ve always been drawn to nostalgic design, I once collaborated with artists to create illustrations inspired by antique engravings. Another time, we imagined what it might feel like to sketch in front of the Moulin Rouge during its heyday, and commissioned artwork with that mood in mind.
But working with Annie was something else entirely. It was our first international design collaboration, and it involved much more than just emails. We exchanged packages of chocolates and paper samples by post, and every detail of the packaging – paper texture, ribbon thickness, print colour – had to be discussed. I would make chocolates during the day and then stay up until the early hours of the morning writing emails in English, which isn’t my first language. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.
How did you become a chocolatier?
I originally studied computer engineering at Seoul National University – widely known in Korea as the most competitive university to get into. When I was a student, the internet was just beginning to spread globally, and people around me were rushing into the emerging IT industry. I joined that wave too. At 21, I started a small company with friends.
But we were far too inexperienced, and things didn’t go well. I spent the rest of my twenties trying to pay off the debt that followed. Eventually, I joined a new company, got married, and welcomed my first child. I was 27.
One morning, I left for work, but my wife didn’t hear the sound of me going down the stairs. She opened the door, concerned – and found me still inside. The stress that had built up over so many years had taken a toll. I was diagnosed with depression and had to step away from work for a year to recover.
During that time, I had my first taste of artisan chocolate.
On the last day of a trip to Tokyo with my wife and our one-year-old child, we had planned to visit a famous okonomiyaki restaurant – but it was closed for a break. Not wanting to waste our final few hours, we searched for another place to go. Tucked away in a travel guide, we found a small mention of a French chocolatier: Jean-Paul Hévin.
What we found there was nothing like any chocolate shop I had ever imagined. It felt more like a jewellery boutique than a dessert shop. Everything – from the lighting to the packaging – was perfectly orchestrated. I was struck by the question: What kind of substance is chocolate, that it deserves this kind of reverence?
That curiosity led me to begin learning chocolate-making during my time away from work. I started in Korea, then travelled to Paris to study at École Lenôtre, where I could learn the true craft behind the kind of chocolate that had moved me so deeply.
Our motto at Piaf is: “There are moments in your life when you need chocolate.”
Our mission is to create chocolates that illuminate those moments. A birthday, a proposal, a quiet moment between friends – our chocolates are meant to be part of those stories. When someone opens one of our boxes, the experience can shine… or fall flat. That’s the power chocolate holds.
In Korea, Valentine’s Day and White Day are even bigger than Easter or Christmas in Europe, commercially speaking. And yes, there’s always some criticism that it’s all just marketing. But if people are going to buy chocolate because they feel they have to, then I want to make sure it’s the most sincere, thoughtful chocolate they can choose.
Every time we design a new box, I picture the person opening it: maybe at a restaurant, nervously untying the ribbon, feeling others glance over with curiosity and admiration. I try to create something worthy of that moment.
What made you settle on the name Piaf?
One day, a TV commercial was playing, and my son – who was about three at the time – began humming along to a song by Édith Piaf. That small moment stayed with me, and I decided then and there to name our chocolate shop Piaf.
Édith Piaf is, of course, one of the most legendary chanson singers of France. Since our shop has always been rooted in traditional French style, her name felt like a perfect fit.
When I watched her biopic La Vie en Rose, what struck me most was how her life – so full of pain and loss – was still always about love. I once thought that every one of her hit songs could make a fitting name for one of our chocolate boxes: La Vie en Rose, Hymne à l’amour, Padam Padam…
But beyond that, the word “Piaf” is also short, memorable, and has a sweet, feminine ring to it. I’m a man, but my chocolates aren’t about me. They’re about the emotion of the person who opens the box – and this name suits that feeling well.
Over the years, I’ve met many French chefs and tourists, and whenever they hear the name of our shop, they smile. There’s something amusing, I suppose, about hearing the name of an old French singer on a chocolate shop halfway across the world. And really, who could blame them?
Any chance of Piaf chocolates being made available in the UK?
To be honest, I first began learning about chocolate as part of a personal healing process. My original dream wasn’t to build a big brand – it was simply to open a small chocolate shop. So, I spent about three years teaching chocolate in an atelier, rather than running a storefront. And then, in 2011, I opened Piaf. In some ways, I reached my dream a little earlier than I expected.
Now, Piaf has grown into something much bigger – by Korean standards, it’s actually quite a large chocolate shop, with over ten chocolatiers working together. But my dream remains the same: to open a small, quiet chocolate shop again someday, one tucked away in a charming alley where I can focus purely on chocolate.
Because of this mindset, we’re very cautious about opening new locations. So, realistically, I think it would be difficult to open a branch in the UK.
But then again… who knows? Maybe one day, that small chocolate shop I dream about will open in a quiet village lane somewhere in the English countryside.
Over to Annie…
How was it working with a chocolate brand and seeing your designs used in this way?
It was lovely – chocolate is already such a beautiful thing, and to wrap it in something you’ve made feels like adding to the magic.
Had you tried Ko’s chocolates before he first commissioned you in 2015?
No, I hadn’t – but once I started working with Ko and saw the level of craft that went into every chocolate, I was won over.
Are there any special considerations when creating packaging for chocolate?
Definitely. There’s a balance between elegance and practicality – the box has to protect the chocolates, but also feel like part of the gift. And, of course, the design needs to work seasonally, or at different gifting moments, without losing its character.
Were you happy to be invited back to work with Piaf again?
Absolutely – I have a real soft spot for Piaf, both the chocolatier and the original design. Being asked back felt like a lovely full-circle moment, especially after nearly a decade.
Was it difficult to fit in between film commitments?
A little! But packaging is a very different creative rhythm to film work, so it worked out in the end.
Which of the chocolates in your box would you recommend?
The whiskey truffle – it’s made with Redbreast, a beautiful local Irish whiskey, and has a deep, mellow warmth.
And if you had to choose between the milk chocolate collection and the dark chocolate, which would you pick?
I’d have to say dark – especially with the spiced or citrusy fillings. I love that intensity.
There is a lovely central chocolate to the box collections with the Piaf design included. It must be very satisfying to see that as a central design among the chocolates?
It really is. Seeing the motif echoed in the chocolate itself felt like the design had stepped fully into the world. It was hard to eat that one, but I did it.
Details shown below.
