Licensing has its cyclical ups and downs in every category, and it has been on a definite upswing over the past few years in the home goods sector. Recently, three high-profile celebrities have added their names to the list, each with extensive home goods programs or plans, with a focus on the kitchen. None has specific expertise in the category, nor much of a strong public connection to it. Yet each has generated a lot of interest in what is to come:
- Meghan Markle. The most recent announcement comes from the actress and duchess, who launched a lifestyle brand called American Riviera Orchard last week. Details are scarce, but the merchandise will be California-inspired and, based on trademark filings, is likely to include products such as tableware, cutlery, linens, drinkware, cookbooks, and foods such as jams, oils, spreads, and butters. Observers expect that lifestyle content will also be forthcoming. Markle had a lifestyle blog called the Tig that ended seven years ago, before she married into and then became estranged from the British Royal Family, with whom she has had a famously turbulent relationship. Since then, she has become a very high profile but divisive personality, with a legion of loyal followers and an equally large, enthusiastic, and vocal group of detractors.
- Dolly Parton. This month, the singer and philanthropist—and, to many, an “American treasure”—launched the first in a multi-category collection of kitchen products from licensees Lodge Cast Iron, Lifetime Brands, and Mainstream International. Products, inspired by her childhood memories of home in Tennessee, include tabletop items, home decor, barware, table and kitchen textiles, kitchen tools, and cast iron skillets, including one shaped like a guitar. The skillets just became available, while the remainder of the products will debut in March 2025. This program builds on several other deals involving Parton in the home and lifestyle space in the past few years. Since IMG began representing her in 2019, the singer’s licensing program has expanded to include cooking and home-related products such as cookbooks from Ten Speed Press, a holiday home goods collection with Hobby Lobby, and baking kits with Con Agra and Duncan Hines, as well as greeting cards, pet products, ice cream, paper partyware, fragrance, collectibles, apparel, and more.
- Paris Hilton. Heiress and reality star Hilton, who has long had a very successful global licensing and collaboration program focused mostly on apparel, accessories, fragrance, and other luxury goods, went in a new direction in October of last year, launching a cookware collection for Walmart called the Be An Icon Collection. The color scheme skews pink, and the primary design theme is hearts, with items ranging from knife sets, mini-fridge, cheese board, and teapot, to a 10-piece cast aluminum cookware set, popcorn popper, bakeware, and coffee press. The line has received good reviews for looks and utility from both purchasers and from many cooking and lifestyle media. Hilton starred in a one-season cooking show on Netflix, Cooking with Paris, in 2021.
When licensing is both established and on the rise in a category, there is room for a wider spectrum of properties, including many without strong connections to the industry, than is typical in other circumstances. And in recent years celebrities have been powerful drivers of product sales in general, whether they are lending specific expertise to a product line or just bringing their fame to the sector in sometimes unexpected ways. So the entry into the home goods category of these three celebrities—all of whom have attracted controversy at some point in their careers, at least among a subset of consumers—is not a surprise. And observers, for the most part, believe their programs have strong prospects for success.
Of course personalities with more obvious associations with cooking and the home continue to enter the category as well. Chef Jenny Martinez paired with JCPenney last fall for an affordable kitchenware line called Mesa Mia, for example, inspired by her Mexican upbringing.
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