These days, musicians are involved in all manner of licensed lifestyle products, from home goods to fashion apparel to foods and beverages. But they also continue to lend their expertise to core musician-branded products such as musical instruments and accessories, whether or not they have expanded into the lifestyle realm as well. A case in […]
Collections Score Points with Padel Players
Padel is following in the footsteps of pickleball as a fast-rising racket sport that is starting to make a mark in the licensing business. Originating in Spain, padel — which combines elements of tennis, squash, racketball, and tennis — counts 35 million players around the world as of the end of 2025, according to the […]
Retailers Smell Opportunity in Beauty Sector
Since the Covid pandemic, the beauty industry has been outperforming many other product categories when it comes to sales growth. Several retailers are looking to capitalize on current trends by entering into partnerships to boost their branded offerings in the category. In 2025, the U.S. prestige beauty industry saw both dollar and unit sales grow […]
Commuting With Cartoon Characters
By Karen Raugust on April 16, 2026 in Character/Entertainment, Experiential licensing, International, Licensing
In Japan, collaborations with subway and train systems are a frequent form of experiential licensing featuring anime and video game characters. The different regional systems under the Japan Railways umbrella are common collaborators, but many other train operators, both public and private, are also players in this space. On the licensor side, Nintendo is a […]
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 […]
In and Out of the Kitchen
Several celebrity chefs have recently forged agreements with retailers to extend their names into home goods. Some are entering the category for the first time. Others are expanding existing deals focused on cookware and dinnerware by adding lifestyle categories such as bedding and furniture that take them well beyond the kitchen: Chef and TikTok influencer […]
Change in the Innerwear Industry
The innerwear category has seen a lot of structural change in the past year, through mergers, acquisitions, and new or restructured licensing models: Wacoal International, a global innerwear company based in Japan, acquired Glamorise, a direct-to-consumer plus-size lingerie specialist, in a deal announced last week. Wacoal, which in the U.S. sells primarily to the department […]
Mining Meat Pies As A Licensing Opportunity
A recent deal bringing Guinness into the Cornish pasty category is just the latest collaboration in this small niche of the licensing business. A Cornish pasty is a small savory baked pie, typically made with beef, potatoes, rutabagas (called swedes in England), and onions encased in shortcrust pastry. First developed in the 13th century, pasties […]
Don’t Sleep on This Opportunity
Over the last decade there has been a growing realization of how important sleep is, along with exercising and eating right, to overall health and wellness, not to mention performance in work, sports, and daily life. A diverse range of licensors and licensees are creating products meant to help address the need for more and […]
Licensees Kick Off World Cup Season
The FIFA World Cup comes to North America, in locations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, from June 11 through July 19, 2026. This year’s event takes place in one of the world’s biggest consumer markets and, in the case of the U.S., one of the fastest-growing markets for soccer. The competition has also expanded […]