Tattoo artists continue to make their presence felt through fashion collaborations. Streetwear brands, especially those based in Japan, remain the leading players, but other partners are part of the landscape as well. Some examples from the past year give a sense of this sector: Sock brand Stance and tattoo artist Bert Krak paired in August […]
Archive | Art
Turning Your TV Into Art
This year has brought the rise of the “art TV,” a thin flat-screen TV with a library of high-res digital art that turns the device into an ever-changing framed piece of art, or something resembling it, when idle. While any device can show art or photographs, characteristics such as a thin silhouette, frame-like border, subtle […]
Local Collabs Bridge Art and Sports
Historically, sports teams and art museums have not seen much overlap in their commercial activities. But museums are increasingly featuring exhibits about the intersection of art and sports, as a means of enticing new audiences to visit and getting them to think about art in a new way. Among recent examples, the McNay Art Museum […]
Artists Capture the Spirit of the Horse
Lunar New Year is a big opportunity for limited-edition merchandise and collaborative marketing campaigns. Global marketers, in particular, often launch initiatives aimed at consumers in China and the rest of Asia, as well as worldwide, with many property types and product categories involved. One active segment this year — as in most years — consists […]
Artful and Delicious
Afternoon teas have been on the rise as a form of licensed experience. They are often tied to properties such as British literary characters and anime, luxury fashion and lifestyle brands, and celebrity chefs and bakers, although other types of IPs are involved as well. Another growing source of inspiration for licensed teas over the […]
These Toys Are Works of Art
Toys have long been part of the world of museum licensing — the latter a sector that has, overall, been expanding greatly in recent years — yet they remain a relatively small part of most institutions’ brand-extension efforts. That said, a number of high-profile deals have come to light this year in which leading museums […]
From Wool to Watercolors
Pairings of fashion designers with arts and crafts suppliers have been few and far between, but they do pop up occasionally. Such alliances makes sense, not only because both partners are focused on creative pursuits, but because designers’ sketches of their concepts, prior to any cutting and sewing, are often works of art in and […]
Fine Art Meets Fashion Retail
The fashion industry has been turning more and more often to art and artists for new apparel collections that grab consumers’ attention. One segment within that sphere that has been expanding of late consists of pairings of classic fine artists, licensed through their estates or museums that hold artworks of theirs, with fashion retailers. A […]
The Fine Art of Football
Soccer clubs around the world have been creating collaborative jerseys and fanwear by pairing with nonsports properties, including an expanding range and variety of licensed IPs, from musicians to anime. Their partners also increasingly include artists, as some recent examples illustrate: In May of this year, the Frida Kahlo brand and its German agent Bavaria Media Licensing announced […]
Museums Exhibit a Knack for Licensing
Art museums around the world are expanding their licensing efforts, continuing a trend that has intensified over the past several years. Licensed products and experiences can be a way to raise awareness by bringing museums’ brands and artwork into new places, generate ancillary revenue that helps keep the institution open and support its mission, and […]