A number of recent licensed and collaborative products have taken denim—or at least its look and feel—into categories where it has not traditionally had much of a presence: Lingerie. Last week, American Eagle said it was pairing with sibling lingerie and casual apparel brand Aerie for the first time to launch a limited collection of […]
Tag Archives | Levi’s
Worked Up About Workwear
Fashion watchers keeping an eye on what’s happening on the runways have highlighted workwear as a notable trend in this year’s fall and winter collections. The segment long ago expanded beyond traditional workwear purchasers. Starting in the late 1980s, workwear became associated with rap, street, and skate culture. Celebrities began wearing workwear and posting the […]
Controversial Content Through A.I.
Artificial intelligence has long been used for a variety of purposes, from automating contract reviews to personalized shopping to voice assistants, and it holds promise for much more. Lately, with the advent of consumer-friendly A.I. chatbots, image-generators, and other tools, such as ChatGPT and MidJourney, A.I. is increasingly—and more controversially—being utilized to develop and produce […]
Jazzed About Jeans
Denim sales have been on the rise in 2021 and 2022, with individual companies at all price points reporting jumps in sales in the category. That growth is likely to last, analysts say. Research and Markets, for example, estimates that the denim jeans market worldwide will reach $76.1 billion by 2026, up 32.8% from $57.3 […]
Athletes Ace Tenniscore Trend
Apparel, accessories, and footwear items taking their inspiration from the sport of tennis—pleated tennis skirts, tennis dresses, skorts, preppy polo shirts, V-neck sweaters, and the like—have been hot commodities in the fashion industry this year. Brands such as Adidas and Nike are involved, but so are designers and labels such as Tory Burch and Dior. […]
Augmenting Activism Through Product Alignments
Celebrities are increasingly taking roles as activists, from supporting Black Lives Matter, to promoting women’s rights in light of the Me-Too movement, to highlighting sustainability. Meanwhile, activists working toward various causes are more often becoming celebrities in their own right. Members of both groups are looking at fashion and other product collaborations and brand ambassadorships […]
Stretching Out
Sales of activewear in the U.S. in the first six months of 2021 increased 40% compared to the same period in 2020 and 25%-plus compared to 2019, according to the NPD Group. As social activities start to open back up, consumers are going out with an increasingly casual sense of style, leading the fashion world […]
Collaborations Honor Black History
By Karen Raugust on February 18, 2021 in Art, Demographic groups, Design and content themes, Fashion, Licensing
Black History Month in February of each year has not traditionally maintained as high a profile within the consumer product and collaboration space as Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place in September and October and has increasingly been seen as a time for licensors and their partners to create themed collections. IP owners and brands […]
Welcome to the Year of the Ox
By Karen Raugust on February 11, 2021 in Design and content themes, Holiday, International, Licensing
Tomorrow (February 12) marks the start of the Lunar New Year. As brands increasingly mark this occasion with collections of products—especially in China and other parts of Asia, but in other regions as well—some look to the year’s Chinese zodiac symbol for inspiration. This creates opportunities for licensed properties that happen to be associated with […]
Getting Out the Vote
By Karen Raugust on October 19, 2020 in Design and content themes, Licensing, Politics/social movements
Every four years as the U.S. Presidential election comes around, licensors, licensees, and retailers create products and promotional initiatives highlighting themes tied to voting. Historically, these have been mostly focused on merchandise featuring vote-related graphics, primarily as a way to offer some fresh and timely designs. This year, however, marketers (many with ties to the […]