The collegiate sports market has been experiencing upheaval over the past several years, with the advent and evolution of name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities; growth in athlete transfers; coaching turnover; conference realignment; revenue sharing with athletes; and more. These trends are accompanied by broader issues impacting colleges and universities, such as falling enrollments and […]
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Turning Up The Heat
Heated clothing is a segment of the apparel, accessories, and footwear category that is about to hit its peak selling season in the Northern hemisphere. These pieces, which include battery-powered heating elements to keep people warm when spending long periods outdoors, represent a small portion of licensing deals within the apparel industry. But it is […]
Women’s Sports Reach New Merch Milestones
Interest in women’s sports remains strong, as does demand for merchandise tied to women’s leagues, teams, and athletes. But product supply, variety, and quality continue to lag behind the men’s game. A few key milestones in the past year have contributed toward reducing some of these deficits, however: In July, the Orlando Pride of the […]
Trying Snoafers On For Size
Hybrid sneakers are currently a hot footwear-industry niche. The trend is led by snoafers (sneakers combined with loafers), but also encompasses styles that integrate sneakers with pumps, sandals, Mary Janes, clogs, mules, and ballet flats. Licensed IPs, mostly high-end fashion labels, have been part of this movement for some time, typically as part of broader […]
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 […]
Sculpting a Niche in the Shapewear Space
Shapewear brands vary in their collaborative activity, with the category overall being a comparatively infrequent player in licensing and other forms of partnership. But there have been some pairings of note this year and last that demonstrate the viability of brand alliances in the sector. Some are traditional-style collaborations, while others veer more toward the […]
Back to Nature
Merchandise pairing licensed properties and brands with entities overseeing public parks, or the advocacy groups supporting them, has for many years represented one way to raise money and awareness for these public spaces. Whether involving national park systems or local park organizations in the U.S. or other countries, examples have come to light on a […]
Building a Foundation in Construction Toys
Building kits, led by Lego, have been one of the bright spots in the toy industry over the past several years. In the U.S., construction toy sales were up 16% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to Circana figures, representing a significantly higher rate of growth than any other supercategory tracked. The same was true […]
New Spins On Ancient Artisanal Crafts
By Karen Raugust on March 24, 2025 in Cultural, Design and content themes, DIY/Maker, International, Licensing
The popularity of Japanese culture—anime and manga, kawaii characters, videogames, baseball players, and streetwear brands, to name a few examples—has been expanding globally for years. Lately, a growing number of collaborations involving these IPs, and western IPs as well, have started to integrate nods to traditional Japanese handcrafts and arts in their designs. Most of […]
Game-Changing Gear for Girls
Women’s professional sports have large contingents of young female fans who look up to the athletes and often aspire to turn pro themselves one day. In fact, part of the mission of women’s sports leagues is typically to bring young girls into the sports community as players and fans, as well as to support and […]