Four licensed lifestyle brands known for their distinctive all-over prints have been struggling of late: Orla Kiely, the 1970s-infused label tied to the Irish designer billed as the “queen of prints,” announced in September that it would liquidate, shutting its stores, located in the U.K. and Ireland, and its website. The 20-plus-year-old brand’s licensing business, […]
Tag Archives | Orla Kiely
Peddling Pedals
As bike culture grows around the globe, especially in urban areas, licensing in the bicycle category is expanding outside of its historical boundaries. The U.K. market over the last year or so has served as the epicenter for several deals illustrating how bike-related licensing can stretch beyond conventional bike-licensing boundaries. For instance: Bike-culture brands are […]
A Note from London
The stationery category in U.K. retail stores provides a showcase for lifestyle brands, fashion labels, and artists. Several of the high-end London department stores—Liberty, Harrod’s, Fortum & Mason, and John Lewis—have stationery departments where licensed collections are boutiqued, for example. At Liberty, an array of fashion designer Christian LaCroix’s note cards and journals is featured […]