Current and former pro skateboarders are desirable collaboration partners for apparel and footwear companies. This is especially true for marketers specializing in, or with a strong business in, streetwear and/or sneakers, and that includes the biggest players. Most of the efforts take the form of capsule collections. Some examples from the past year: Reebok released […]
Archive | Fashion
CBD In Style
The fashion world is the latest sector of the licensing business to start embracing CBD, with a focus on the health and beauty category. Among the collaborations announced during the second half of 2019: American Eagle worked with Green Growth Brands to launch a proprietary CBD skin-care collection called Mood. The gender-neutral self-care range features […]
In Control
Licensors in the fashion and luxury industries accomplish their brand-extension activities, especially in international territories, in a variety of ways, including through licensing agreements, joint ventures, or owned subsidiaries, or even sometimes from their central headquarters. While each company has a different strategy depending on the particulars of its own business, the industry as a […]
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Licensing has become more data-driven over time, as the tools used to analyze sales and other information at a granular level improve, giving licensors and licensees insights into what is working and not working and enhancing the ability to tweak strategies quickly. Licensing executives have also increasingly been enhancing sales history with other more forward-looking […]
Upcycling Is The New Recycling
The number of licensed and collaborative initiatives that involve products made from recycled materials, or products that are recyclable themselves, has been on the rise for several years, with new examples proliferating quickly of late. One area of focus in the last year or so, and especially this fall, has been upcycling, a specific form […]
Designs on Pop Culture
Collaborations pairing fashion brands and entertainment/character properties tend to involve design labels that are fresh and cutting-edge and/or appeal to younger consumers. Think streetwear brands, emerging global design stars, or fast-fashion retailers. Recently, however, some very well established designers are increasingly participating in this strategy, creating collections tied to TV shows, video games, comic strips, […]
Secondhand Clothes
Resale marketplace sites and consignment apps, which allow consumers to sell and purchase used and vintage goods—often higher-end and/or limited-edition fashion items—have been on the upswing in 2018 and 2019. The resale clothing market overall is expected to reach $51 billion by 2023, according to ThredUp’s 2019 Resale Report, compared to $24 billion in 2018. […]
A Modest Proposal
A trend emerging in the fashion-licensing sector involves collaborations focused on hip-but-modest clothing designs, with religious beliefs often serving as the impetus for the ventures: • Hana Tajima is one of the most prominent of a small group of designers creating clothing for Muslim women. Her latest collection for retailer Uniqlo includes modest dresses, separates, […]
Learning Curve
Over the past couple of years, we have taken many looks at the plus- and extended-size market, a hot and still growing space within the licensing business and the apparel industry in general. One very logical niche within that segment consists of deals between apparel marketers and curve models (who specialize in the plus-size market). […]
A Pitch for Women’s Soccer Fans
Women’s football/soccer has been in the spotlight this summer after the July 7 conclusion of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019, hosted by France and won by the U.S. team. Heightened global awareness for the women’s sport is increasingly leading to more endorsement opportunities for individual female athletes, more sponsorship revenue for women’s teams, and […]