Deals announced in summer and fall 2019 illustrate some of the key current trends in the sports licensing business: Rising activity around women’s sports. The English Netball League, a 90-plus-year-old women’s sports entity, signed a deal with British retailer Oasis for a range of apparel, with players Ama Agbze, Eboni Usoro-Brown, and Jade Clarke appearing […]
Tag Archives | Adidas
Scrumptious Style
Ecologically sound licensed products have been gaining traction over the last two years or so as the cost has come down and consumer demand has gone up. This is particularly true in the apparel, accessories, and footwear industries, where many initiatives have involved using recycled materials such as plastic or rubber, creating products that are […]
Out of Africa
Businesses based in Africa have been expanding their presence on the global scene of late, including some involved in activities connected to licensing: • Fashion. South African designer Palesa Mokubung and her label Mantsho recently teamed with H&M for a ready-to-wear apparel and accessories range set to debut in select stores around the world this […]
New Dimensions in Footwear
3D printing has a lower profile as a consumer-facing licensing trend than it did a few years ago. But the technology continues strong behind the scenes, as a means to personalize products, implement unique designs, and achieve other goals. In many cases, consumers may not realize a given product is being created through this technique, […]
Rethinking for the Long Run
Designer Isaac Mizrahi and New Balance just debuted a collection of footwear and apparel exclusively on QVC, while Mattel’s Barbie’s just launched its latest capsule with Puma, in honor of the doll’s 60th anniversary. These initiatives are reminders of how sportswear companies with roots in athletic footwear have, over the past decade, expanded their realms […]
The Company They Keep
A number of recent collaborations touching lifestyle categories such as apparel, footwear, and cosmetics have highlighted capsule collections inspired or designed by groups of celebrities. The initiatives, which integrate anywhere from three to six personalities simultaneously, tend to be mainly promotional in nature, but have a merchandise component as well. In recent months: Adidas premiered […]
World Cup Couture
With the finals of the FIFA World Cup coming up this Sunday, pitting France against Croatia, it seems like a good time to look at the impact of the competition on the world of high fashion, officially licensed and otherwise. Here are some of the strategies involving fashion labels, designers, sports licensors, and retailers trying […]
Walking in Chefs’ Shoes
Chefs who enter the licensing business typically focus on items closely related to their vocation, such as kitchen gadgets, cook- and bakeware, tableware, and sometimes foods. A category that seems to be outside the scope of traditional chef-based licensing but has been growing rapidly over the past five years: sneakers. While at first glance there […]
Saving the Earth Through Fashion
Fashion labels’ use of synthetic fibers created from recycled plastic bottles continues to grow, including some licensed examples. Among the recent eco-friendly apparel, accessories, and footwear initiatives of this type, industry-wide: Gant paired with Seaqual, a company that makes polyester thread from plastics harvested from the ocean. They are producing a line of shirts for […]
Where the Rubber Meets the Sidewalk
Tire companies have long extended their brands into the footwear category, not only lending their names to the collaborative shoe lines, but also providing rubber for the soles. In many cases, their brand name appears only on the bottom of the shoe. Some examples: Michelin’s footwear licensing business includes hiking boots, athletic shoes, non-slip shoes […]