MGA Entertainment lands fashion deal with Poetic Brands for Na! Na! Na! Surprise clothing

MGA Entertainment has made its latest fashion move through a partnership with the licensed apparel specialist, Poetic Brands to launch a clothing range based on the Na! Na! Na! Surprise doll range.

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 a confetti surprise.

Inside the balloon is a plush pom, which holds one of six soft posable fashion dolls, outfits and shoes. Each doll has a special nametag that explains more about their style and personality.

Anne Bradford, director, Poetic Brands, said: “With the success of LOL Surprise and LOL Surprise OMG dolls on toy and apparel at retail, and a team experienced with working on both of these products, we jumped at the opportunity to work on Na! Na! Na! Surprise.

“The concept of Na! Na! Na! Surprise is perfect for its target customer and we are looking forward to creating daywear and nightwear ranges. In addition, we are producing face masks for OMG & Na! Na! Na! Surprise.”

Anne Stokes partners with What’s Your Passion Jewelry for fantasy collection

What’s Your Passion Jewelry has partnered with the fantasy artist, Anne Stokes to create two new pieces designed to embody the unique and magical in the Celtic Dragon Necklace and Dragon Medal Necklace.

The collaboration marks the latest addition to What’s Your Passion Jewelry’s growing portfolio of licensed that includes partnerships with the likes of Marvel and Shield Hero.

The jewelry is hand crafted in the USA by a team of skilled artisans under the What’s Your Passion brand – a name that has been making fine jewelry for decades. Each item is shipped carefully in a collector’s box that can be used as a display. All items in the collection are .925 sterling silver.

“What’s Your Passion Jewelry make some really elegant jewelry in gold and silver. This delicate pendant is a really lovely rendition of my Celtic Dragon motif that features in many of my fantasy artworks. Silver has often been associated in folklore with protection from evil. For example, it’s only with a silver bullet that you can kill a werewolf,” said Stokes.

Anne Stokes posts weekly online video content exploring how the artist uses fantasy myths and legends in her artwork. The content has built up an audience of fans, while licensees benefit from having their products featured alongside the artworks.

The Anne Stokes Collection covers a broad range of Fantasy subjects including Unicorns, Enchanted Forests, Gothic themes and Dragons, from the famous artist Anne Stokes. Assets include main artworks, patterns, elements and logos and is updated regularly with new content.

A solid, long standing brand with over 70 licensees and worldwide merchandise sales in mainstream, independent and online retailers as well as a massive following of loyal fans.

The deal was brokered by Anne Stokes’ global licensing agency, Art Ask Agency.

The Pokémon Company extends Casio partnership for new BABY-G women’s watch

The Pokémon Company and the international watchmaker, Casio have expanded on a collaborative partnership to welcome the fan-favourite Pokémon, Pikachu to the firm’s popular line-up of BABY-G women’s watches.

The latest collaboration follows on from the success of a partnership established last year that celebrated BABY-G’s 25th anniversary. The latest partnership will introduce an analog-digital watch with an outdoor theme, representing the active image of the BABY-G brand.

The band of the watch model – BA110PKC-4A – showcases a camouflage pattern and female Pikachu with a heart-shaped tail.

The Pikachu design is also infused with subtle details like the silhouette of the pink tail on the strap keeper and the Pikachu image etched on the case back. The hour and minute hands also evoke the face of Pikachu, a playful touch that will delight the wearer whenever they check the time.

As part of the release, BABY-G has unveiled a special landing page taking consumers through the features, which can be accessed here.

In addition to special packaging inspired by the Poké Ball, the BA110PKC-4A also comes equipped with Casio’s G-SHOCK technology including.

The BA110PKC-4A will retail for $150/£139/€149 and be available for purchase this February at select retailers, the G-SHOCK Soho Store NYC, and gshock.com.

WildBrain CPLG expands its Emoji EMEA remit with UK, Eire and more

Emoji – The Iconic Brand, has tapped WildBrain CPLG to expand its representation across EMEA, starting this month by building on its already established partnership and adding the UK and Eire, Germany, Austria, Benelux, and Turkey to its remit.

The new five-year deal will see WildBrain CPLG represent the brand on behalf of the emoji company GmbH across key consumer products categories as it builds merchandise offerings for kids, teens, and adults.

Within existing markets, WildBrain CPLG Middle East has secured a new partnership with leading Kuwaiti sports and high-street fashion retailer, Al Nasser, for an emoji brand apparel range targeting girls and women, and in a previously announced deal, high-end retailer RIVA is gearing up to launch its first emoji® fashion collection for teens and women next month.

Since the beginning of its representation of the emoji brand in 2018, WildBrain CPLG has brokered over 100 deals for the brand.

Maarten Weck, EVP and managing director at WildBrain CPLG, said: “The internationally recognisable emoji brand has huge appeal to a vast array of licensees and retailers. Building on our successful partnership with the emoji company, we have now significantly extended our relationship to represent the popular brand in new key markets, which offer strong potential for further growth and future innovation.

“Together with the emoji company, we are committed to celebrating the brand’s fun and creative spirit in new product ranges for consumers of all ages.”

Marco Hüsges, CEO and founder of Emoji Company, added: “The power of emoji truly lies in the brand’s diversity and universal appeal, which means there are simply no limits when it comes to developing consumer products.

“With WildBrain CPLG, we have already brought consumers in EMEA some amazing merchandise collections, and we know that with their local expertise and synergistic approach, they are ideally placed to handle these key new markets. This is just the beginning of emoji’s consumer products journey and we look forward to seeing the brand catapulted to even greater heights across the region.”

MDL brings Italian fashion brand Premoli + Di Bella into the pets market

Maurizio Distefano Licensing, the licensing manager for the fashion brand Premoli + Di Bella, has detailed the launch of a new retail collection Premoli + Di Bella Pet Design, produced under a licensing agreement with Ferribiella Spa.

Available in Italy’s leading pet stores since late 2020, the first collection from Premoli + Di Bella Pet Design launches with an ‘Iconic’ theme, underlining the creativity of Giovanni Premoli and Dario Di Bella. The range includes velvet beds for dogs and cats, soft blankets for home pet use, raincoat ponchos, gym-style suits and more.

Several other releases are on the way, each one offering a specific new theme created by the two young designers whose bold creativity has seen them dubbed ‘the Stylists of the Third Millennium’.

All will bring together products that aim to combine the innovative and the functional for their target audience of animals and their owners. 

Lifestyle brand Flossy and Jim prepare to launch into India with Dot Badges

The animated character brand, Flossy and Jim, is set to launch into India this year thanks to a new partnership with Dot Badges, a leading online retailer of button badges, mobile sockets, laptop stickers, and notebooks.

Brokered by Edutainment Licensing working in tandem with Halysis Entertainment, the brand’s local licensing agent for India, Flossy and Jim will bring its colourful lifestyle brand to audiences across the region in its mission to deliver fun and happiness for cool kids and on-trend teens.

Created by Lynette and James, two illustrators living by the sea in picturesque Brixham, Devon in the UK, their mission from the beginning has been to help young people feel positive and supported in life using bright and bold designs with comical and on-trend slogans that their audience can relate to.

The pair regularly present workshops in schools, talking to pupils about their own personal journeys; encouraging and inspiring them to believe in themselves.

“We believe that Dot Badge will make an ideal partner to introduce the vibrant Flossy and Jim designs to youth of India.” said Aashish Goodae MD of Halysis Entertainment.

Lifestyle brand Flossy and Jim prepare to launch into India with Dot Badges

The animated character brand, Flossy and Jim, is set to launch into India this year thanks to a new partnership with Dot Badges, a leading online retailer of button badges, mobile sockets, laptop stickers, and notebooks.

Brokered by Edutainment Licensing working in tandem with Halysis Entertainment, the brand’s local licensing agent for India, Flossy and Jim will bring its colourful lifestyle brand to audiences across the region in its mission to deliver fun and happiness for cool kids and on-trend teens.

Created by Lynette and James, two illustrators living by the sea in picturesque Brixham, Devon in the UK, their mission from the beginning has been to help young people feel positive and supported in life using bright and bold designs with comical and on-trend slogans that their audience can relate to.

The pair regularly present workshops in schools, talking to pupils about their own personal journeys; encouraging and inspiring them to believe in themselves.

“We believe that Dot Badge will make an ideal partner to introduce the vibrant Flossy and Jim designs to youth of India.” said Aashish Goodae MD of Halysis Entertainment.

Kodak snaps up Rocket Licensing for UK, Eire, and European licensing programme

The iconic Kodak brand has snapped up Rocket Licensing as its licensing agency for the UK and Eire as well as Europe, as the firm begins to build a consumer products programme across the regions.

In its role – marking a new step for Rocket, an expert in character, entertainment, and publishing licensing – who will focus the campaign on a range of categories including apparel, accessories, stationery (including arts and crafts), publishing, games and puzzles, and collaborations.

The team will target a primarily adult and millennial audience and is looking to place product principally in fashion and mid-tier retail.

Kodak is a 130 year-old company, which is known worldwide by its instantly recognisable red and yellow logo, which has evolved over the years. The company offers an extensive library of classic and modern logos, branding and advertising, which is ideal for developing into exciting, impactful and desirable licensed collections.

To date, Kodak has created far reaching collaborations with A list celebrities, Lulu Guinness and Cara Delavigne, leading designer, Lama Jouni, and key retailer, Forever 21, among others. Rocket will be building on these solid foundations with best in class partners to create on-trend, appealing consumer products and campaigns.

Rob Wijeratna, joint MD, Rocket Licensing, said: “We’re really looking forward to the opportunity to build the Kodak brand in the UK and extend it throughout Europe. Kodak is an iconic brand, known worldwide and offers a wealth of fantastic creative assets to build exciting new collections.”

Clara Fort, Kodak VP global brand licensing, added: “Collaborating with an award-winning partner like Rocket Licensing is an important opportunity for Kodak. The combined strengths of the iconic Kodak brand and Rocket’s creativity and experience will help us bring exciting products and collections to consumers across the UK and Europe.”

Peanuts Worldwide teams with PUMA for footwear, apparel, and accessories

Peanuts Worldwide is teaming with the sports company PUMA for the launch of a new line of footwear, apparel, and accessories aimed at kids and adults, all featuring the classic characters from creator Charles M. Schulz.

In a deal that has been brokered by WildBrain CPLG’s German team, the PUMA x  Peanuts adult offering will witness the launch of classic PUMA styles adorned with members of the Peanuts gang, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Woodstock in basketball inspired scenes.

The clothing will bring a collection of tees, hoodies, and sweatpants for both men and women. The footwear includes the Future Rider and classic basketball style, the Ralph Sampson. Rounding out the adult items in the range are beanies and a backpack.

Meanwhile, the kids’ Peanuts collection encompasses visuals of the characters playing sports including baseball, football and more. In a variety of items for girls and boys, the collection features hats, backpacks, and classic T7 track suits. Key PUMA footwear styles including the Mirage Mox and Ralph Sampson will also be available in junior, preschool, and infant sizing.

Tara Botwick, senior director, territory management EMEA for Peanuts Worldwide, said: “The PUMA x Peanuts collaboration brings together two iconic and internationally loved brands. We’re confident both kids and adults will love the sportswear and accessories that mix PUMA’s distinctive styles with eye-catching Peanuts art in a line full of character, imagination and nostalgia.”

The PUMA x Peanuts collection is now available at PUMA.com and at PUMA stores and select retailers.

Australia’s Blinky Bill lands first clothing collection with BIG W

The popular Australian animated character, Blinky Bill has partnered with Caprice Australia and Cotton Australia for the launch of an extensive summer range of clothing for infants, kids, and adults with BIG W.

Now available in-store and online, the branded range includes sleepwear for both infants and kids as well as a selection of outerwear pieces for boys and girls including t-shirts, shorts and skirts. The first range for BIG W also includes a Blinky Bill t-shirt for mum and one for dad that both match pieces in the kids outerwear range.

The deal was brokered by Blinky Bill’s licensing agency, Merchantwise Licensing and the range was designed and developed by Caprice Australia for BIG W.

Made from Australian cotton and grown by farmers who care for the natural environment and produce the world’s strongest, cleanest cotton fibres.  Soft to touch, this natural Australian cotton is gentle on skin and the environment.

“As one of Australia’s most-loved local brands, Blinky Bill continues to be popular with the young and old, mums and dads and of course, kids. This partnership with Cotton Australia is absolutely perfect for the Blinky Bill brand – Blinky Bill is synonymous with the Australian bush and the use of Australian cotton in these products goes to ensuring the support of Australian farmers in regional areas across the country,” said Merchantwise Licensing general manager, Kerryn McCormack.

“We are sure it is going to be an incredible retail success.”

Barbara Stephen, CEO of Flying Bark Productions, added: “Blinky Bill has been a much-treasured part of Flying Bark Productions’ history since 1992 when the iconic Blinky Bill feature film, Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala was produced by Yoram and Sandra Gross.

“The world’s favourite koala has gone from strength to strength since then with the 2015 feature film, Blinky Bill the Movie and the 2016 television series, The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill being produced by Flying Bark Productions.  It goes without saying that we are absolutely thrilled to see Blinky Bill in the spotlight again with this first ever BIG W range for infants, kids, mums and dads.

“Blinky Bill continues to be as popular as ever with parents and kids alike so we are certain the matching pieces for mum, dad and kids will be mini-me must-haves.  Not only is the range incredibly cute but it is has been created in partnership with Cotton Australia – meaning each piece has been made from Australian cotton and goes to supporting Australian cotton farmers.”