The luxury fashion brand Elie Saab has signed a long-term global licensing deal for its perfumes and cosmetics with Brands Beyond Beauty. The agreement came into effect at the beginning of the year, and will see Brands Beyond Beauty handling the entire strategic and operational creation, distribution, online and offline sales and marketing of the Elie Saab perfumes and cosmetics lines. “The agreement represents an important milestone in the development of the brand in the beauty universe and a new chapter in its worldwide development,” explained Elie Saab in a statement. “The Elie Saab group and Brand Beyond Beauty’s top management will focus joint resources to bring new perspectives to Elie Saab Parfums and achieve stronger positions in brick and mortar and online channels.” The announcement comes ahead of the… . . . read more
Teddy Fresh Launches Cute Collab With Care Bears
LA-based luxury streetwear brand Teddy Fresh has announced the online release of their Teddy Fresh x Care Bears collection on January 21, elevating the Teddy Fresh brand with a collection that showcases its most creatively aspirational work to date. Drawing inspiration from the original 1980’s Care Bears animated series, the collection aims to evoke the nostalgia, creativity and authenticity of the Care Bears’ colorful, hand-drawn imagery. Led by founder Hila Klein, Design Director Chiu Liu (former designer for Nike and Champion), and Director of Production and Development Augie Galan (Supreme, Acapulco Gold), Teddy Fresh says the team have brought their signature design and production methods to new heights in the Teddy Fresh x Care Bears collection. High-end textiles and sophisticated production processes like figured jacquard weaving and vibrant all-over printing… . . . read more
Poetic Brands Creating Licensed Apparel and Face Masks for Na! Na! Na! Surprise
Following the enormous success of LOL Surprise and LOL Surprise OMG dolls from MGA Entertainment, Poetic Brands has snapped up a licensing deal with the toy giant for its latest collectible doll range, Na! Na! Na! Surprise. The specialist apparel licensee is working on a range of children’s apparel, outerwear and swimwear, nightwear and essentials based on the new property aimed at children aged three and older. Poetic Brands will also launch a range of face masks for Na! Na! Na! Surprise and LOL Surprise OMG dolls in the coming months. Na! Na! Na! Surprise launched in the US in late 2019, followed by the UK in September 2020. The collectible dolls offer a new unboxing experience, featuring a balloon that when blown up and then popped provides fans with… . . . read more
Fashion Licensing Pioneer Ruth McCarthy Manton Dies at 95
Ruth McCarthy Manton, a pioneer in the business of fashion licensing, passed away at her home on Christmas Eve. Manton was also among the first female fashion journalists in the industry, but it was her innovative work after founding Aries Design Management that made her a force to be reckoned with in the licensing business. Manton’s idea was to link up top designers directly with manufacturers to create wide ranges of products, and to use media and aggressive marketing to get those products in front of the public’s eye. Early in her new career Manton concluded that reaching the mass market in America would require partnerships with celebrities, particularly those from TV shows and movies. Her close friend, the film producer David Gil, suggested Manton start by partnering with Jaclyn… . . . read more
Fanatics & Lids Reach Long-Term Deal With BNED
The sports merchandise company Fanatics has added to its long list of critical deals in 2020 with a long-term merchandising partnership with Barnes & Noble Education Inc. (BNED), the campus store division of the Barnes & Noble parent company. Fanatics will offer BNED campus stores an expanded product selection and a direct-to-consumer platform. Fanatics’ partly-owned Lids will also provide BNED trend and sales performance data on licensees, product styles and design treatments from more than 1,200 Lids stores. As well, Fanatics and Lids will jointly make a $15 million strategic equity investment in BNED and receive 2.3 million shares of BNED in exchange, representing a share price of $6.50 per share. BNED expects to use these proceeds for its strategic growth initiatives. BNED is a college retailer that was spun off from bookseller… . . . read more
Bad Boys Ride Together, Die Together, and License Merch Together
Is it really possible that it’s only now, 25 years after the first Bad Boys movie dropped, that one can actually buy Bad Boys’ merch? Apparently so, and shoppers have only the week before Christmas to get their hands on the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence-themed clothing line at an online pop-up shop, the badboysmoviestore.com. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first Bad Boys flick, the action-comedy franchise released a clothing capsule just in time for the holidays. The nine-piece collection includes T-shirts, pullover hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, and a couple of accessories, most of which are presented in monochromatic colors. The imagery in the collection reflects the original 1995 film as well as the 2003 and 2020 sequels. You’ll see screen-printed quotes and photos of the film’s two main protagonists—Mike Lowrey and Marcus… . . . read more
Bruce Lee and Me: Apparel that Honors the Past While Making a Better Future
Guest Column by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Aristotle said that a friend is a single soul dwelling in two bodies. Bruce Lee and I were friends like that but, man, our two bodies couldn’t have been more different. Bruce was a 5’8” Chinese-American martial artist and I was a 7’2” African-American basketball player. There were other differences: he was raised in Hong Kong, I was raised in New York City. He was outgoing, charismatic, a born performer. I was shy, quiet, bookish. Our contact point was a shared love of martial arts, but we soon found more common ground in our mutual interest in music, books, movies, history, and philosophy. Our many late-night discussions revealed another, more fundamental similarity: we both came from marginalized people and shared a passion to do everything… . . . read more
Konami’s Bomberman and Contra Sign New Merch Deals
Two iconic … if not historic … Konami video game franchises will be getting some new merch, thanks to a pair of new licensing agreements signed by Konami Cross Media NY. Bomberman and Contra will soon have more product to offer fans with the conclusion of the new licensing agreements, said Jennifer Coleman, Vice President of Licensing and Marketing, Konami Cross Media NY, Inc. Bomberman debuted in 1985 in Japan as a look-down battle game featuring a cute but ferocious protagonist who has since appeared in more than 70 video game titles, and is still going strong. Contra is a ‘run-and-gun’ style video game originally released in 1987 as a coin operated arcade game, and was adapted to the Nintendo platform the following year. A recent licensing agreement with Neamedia morphs… . . . read more
Discount, Value Channels Drive Fashion Brand-based Growth in 2018
Retail sales of licensed fashion brand-based goods jumped 1.6%, with most of the growth emerging from discount and value retailers. Despite the loss of thousands of retail storefronts over 2018, sales through brick-and-mortal locations grew…
Fashion Brand-based Growth Led by Accessories; Bags, Headwear Big Winners of 2018
Retail sales of licensed fashion brand-based merchandise grew 1.6% in 2018 in the U.S. and Canada to reach $22.1 billion, according to The Licensing Letter’s Annual Licensing Business Survey. Of that growth, 41% came from licensed accessories…