Snoop Dogg’s newly revealed line of marijuana flowers, concentrates, and cannabis-infused chocolate bars and gummies, marketed under the Leafs By Snoop brand and manufactured by Beyond Broadway, is the latest in a string of musician-branded, pot-related products introduced or announced in the last year or so. Others include: The Bob Marley estate’s Marley Natural brand […]
Cosplay: The Next Celebrity-Licensing Frontier?
Last month, celebrity cosplayer Yaya Han announced that she had partnered with Wyla Fabrics’ new Cosplay Fabrics division to create a line of 77 textile SKUs designed specifically for cosplay. The line, which will be distributed exclusively through Jo-Ann Fabrics starting next spring, includes stretch knits, Spandex, metallic and textured fabrics, and other goods tailored […]
They’re Driving Us To Drink
The craft beer industry continues its upward trajectory, with sales expected to increase 22% in 2015 alone, according to just-released research from Mintel. This follows significant growth from 2009 to 2014, when the craft sector’s share of total beer volume rose 83% (to 8.5%). Beer sales overall declined 2% over the same period. The explosion […]
Parallel Lines
The foundation of the licensing business is the existence of unique, legally protected properties that create a real point of difference for licensees. As a number of current initiatives attest, however, it is possible to oversee a viable licensing program even when full copyright or trademark protection is impossible. The vagaries of international trademark law […]
Man’s Best Friend
Art trends come and go, but photographs of cute dogs and cats—often dressed, digitally or otherwise, and/or behaving anthropomorphically—always seem to be in style. That ongoing popularity has translated to well-established global licensing programs for pet photographers based in territories all around the world: American Keith Kimberlin offers a large archive of photographs of kittens […]
Plotting a Course for Licensing
Maps are growing as a design theme for licensed apparel, gifts, and home décor, particularly in the U.K. market: Rocket Licensing is expanding the A-Z brand, founded in 1936. New launches for 2016 include a capsule collection from men’s fashion brand Ben Sherman highlighting 1960s-era maps of Carnaby Street, Portobello Road, and other locations where […]
Getting Cosy with Emoji
The trend for emoji-related intellectual properties becoming available for licensing, which started to gain traction a year or more ago, initially focused on newly created brands. Examples included those with roots as emojis, such as LINE Friends from Japan, Tuzki from China, or The Emoji Company’s Emoji trademark, as well as those inspired by emojis, […]
Sleeping with the Enemy
Two specialty apparel retailers, Oasis and The Limited, have added their names this year to the ever-growing stable of retail chains embarking on outbound licensing programs. Oasis, a U.K. fashion retailer with 300 stores in the U.K. and Ireland and 79 elsewhere, retained Golden Goose as its licensing agent last month. It already has licensees […]
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 […]
Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and a number of British marketers are capitalizing on the event. About 10 of The British Library’s 35 licensees are creating Alice product under British Library branding; the institution has the original book in its holdings. The most successful licensee to date is Moleskin, […]