Artisanal Collaborations

Licensors’ and licensees’ interest in doing business with digital marketplaces has increased significantly in recent years. They are now comfortable, for the most part, with everything from authorizing fans to create user-generated designs incorporating their IP on products sold on platforms such as Redbubble, to opening storefronts on third-party marketplaces like Amazon’s.

Etsy is one marketplace that has had a growing presence when it comes to collaborations. As a hub that is primarily for makers of handmade goods, it historically has been off-limits for partnerships. In fact, licensors’ involvement was mostly focused on preventing counterfeits, as when Disney recently went after numerous Etsy makers selling handmade Baby Yoda goods before the official licensed versions were available.

Over the past year, however, and especially this fall, Etsy has been in the spotlight for a number of collaborations pairing celebrities, influencers, and designers with groups of independent makers to offer limited, co-designed collections of unique, artisanal merchandise:

• Actress Tia Mowry-Hardrict, who has a YouTube design show, launched a home collection in early August with a focus on entertaining. Her assortment, created with nine makers, reflected the zen design sensibility she uses in her own home and encompassed decorative pillows, ceramic serving pieces, woven baskets, and the like.
• U.K.-based Zoe Sugg and her Zoella brand offered a limited-edition lifestyle and home range in August, featuring 20 items from nine makers, including notebooks, planters, cards, totes, and candles. All the products were in the pastel colors for which Zoella is known and were priced affordably.
• Tan France, style expert and one of the stars of the current iteration of Queer Eye, introduced his collection in September, with availability through the end of the year if supplies last. It included 22 pieces designed with 13 sellers, ranging from ceramic mugs, journals, and lotions to bathrobes, vases, and throws. The array was billed as being perfect for gift-giving.
• Olivia Rubin, a British fashion designer, moved into home goods for the first time through her Etsy collection, which debuted in late September. She and seven sellers took her rainbow pastel color palette and signature gradated or ombré look into lamps, placemats, and cushions, as well as stationery, holiday cards, and candles.
• Tieghan Gerard, a cookbook author, baking influencer/blogger, and entertaining expert under the Half Baked Harvest brand, paired with 12 makers starting in October for affordable holiday décor, kitchen tools, oven mitts, ornaments, candles, paper goods, and other items for customers who love baking. All were in the “rustic-chic” style with which Gerard is identified.
• Home renovator, real estate developer, and TV host JoJo Fletcher’s collection, which debuted on Etsy in August, focused on home goods created with 15 artisans. The collection, which encompassed both indoor and patio items appropriate for late summer, included pillows, wood lanterns, macramé coasters, cocktail napkins, and ceramic tabletop goods. All were in earth tones and incorporated natural materials.
• Joseph Altuzarra’s home collection, launched in April, centered on sustainability and had a global perspective. It involved eight Etsy makers from around the world. Some of the items, such as pillows, used leftover materials from past Altuzarra projects. Products ranged from vases and pottery to journals and baskets, with some relatively affordable but others priced as high as $1,700.
• Another August collection was with A Beautiful Mess, the influencer lifestyle brand of Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman. Their content covers cooking, parenting, crafting, and décor, and the collection, designed with 15 makers, included a variety of home goods and accessories for adults and kids, from wall hangings and nursery décor to welcome mats and earrings. Many were vintage-inspired and all were created with an eye toward versatility, meant to work in any room in the home.

The burst of Etsy collaborations this spring, summer, and especially fall coincides with the lockdown, when consumers have been shopping more (or for the first time) online and are looking for more small splurges for their homes as they are forced to spend nearly all of their time in the house, especially as winter approaches.

All parties involved see a number of benefits to these partnerships. Consumers are introduced to new makers, and to the Etsy platform, as they seek products from a favorite celebrity. The groupings are small and the products unique, meaning they sell out quickly, an advantage to the artisans. Celebrities are able to offer something new—even one-of-a-kind—to their loyal fans. And as Etsy rotates new collaborations in and out, fans of handmade goods have an incentive to come back again and again. There is also a feel-good halo for consumers, as they support small, independent entrepreneurs.

While these examples involve only a single marketplace, they are indicative of a broader and growing interest on the part of global licensors and their licensees toward marketplaces in general.