Last week, de-cluttering expert Marie Kondo, made famous in the U.S. through her Netflix show, Sparking Joy, as well as her four books, announced a collection of home organization products with 3Coins, a discount home store in Kondo’s native Japan. The first category to debut is kitchen storage, including bags for sorting perishables, expandable organizers, […]
Archive | Celebrity
The Mainstreaming of Drag-Related Merchandise
Drag performers have been active in collaborations in the cosmetics space in a big way going back at least four or five years—we wrote about the trend in 2018—and to some extent well before that. More recently, they have also been gradually doing deals in an ever-widening swath of categories, including products for children. That […]
Life of Luxury
The marriage of luxury brands and K-pop stars continues, as global luxury labels strive to solidify their strength in the important Asian market, as well as take advantage of the stars’ worldwide popularity. For the most part, the relationships are pure brand ambassadorships, with the singers posting on social media to their vast followings, appearing […]
Influential Collaborations
Signature product lines tied to social media influencers have become standard practice in many categories. A half dozen recent deals provide an illustration of the wide variety of influencers and partners involved in such collaborations in 2022: On December 6, MeganPlays, a leading video gaming content creator, paired with retailer Claire’s for a 23-piece line […]
Prime of Life
The presence of mature women in the licensing and collaboration landscape has been growing over the past several years. While they still account for just a sliver of celebrity licensing activity overall, women of a certain age, who historically were forgotten when it came to product partnerships, are increasingly accepted and embraced by marketers. These […]
A Price to Pay
Ye, the musician, designer, and entrepreneur formerly known as Kanye West, is demonstrating the risks for marketers involved with celebrity licensing, as many of his licensing deals and collaborative ventures have fallen apart in the last two weeks in the wake of his antisemitic comments: Adidas was the latest partner to sever ties, ending its […]
Beauty Brands Rock Out
Male musicians are the latest group of celebrities getting into the beauty segment in a big way, namely with collections of bold color cosmetics and nail colors to allow consumers to replicate the look of their favorite performer, whether that be glam or Goth: Ozzie Osbourne is the most recent musician to sign up with […]
Checking In On Celebrity Cannabis Projects
Now that well over 100 celebrity cannabis brands (comprising both THC/marijuana and CBD/hemp) have come on the market, a number of lifestyle, entertainment, cannabis-business, and other publications regularly publish lists of the top-selling and/or highest-quality celebrity brands available. A look at nearly two dozen of these lists that have been published recently yields a large […]
Meal Time
This spring and summer, a number of chefs and other celebrities have introduced home goods collections centering on mealtimes, featuring products including cookware, tabletop items, kitchen storage, kitchen textiles, table linens, and the like. The new ranges, some produced in-house but most accomplished through licensing or collaboration, join a very crowded landscape in this category, […]
The Doctor is In
Dermalogists saw their popularity spike on social media during the pandemic, when “SkinTok”— the umbrella term for people turning to TikTok for skincare advice—took hold. Consumers, especially women, were wearing less makeup and wanted their skin to look good, and at the same time were experiencing skin issues due to mask wearing. As a result, […]