Tag Archives: Afro Unicorn

Dan Dee partners with Afro Unicorn for plush and décor products

Posted on by

Dan Dee International and its affiliate, Animal Adventure, has announced a multi-year licensing deal with Afro Unicorn – a lifestyle brand representing women and children of colour. Through this agreement, Dan Dee will create plush and décor products based on Afro Unicorn characters and designs, set to launch at retail in 2023.

“Dan Dee is delighted to have been selected as a key licensing partner by Afro Unicorn,” says Mark Matheny, Head of Licensing. “This is an exciting opportunity to help promote the brand’s mission of inspiring children of colour through products that represent their uniqueness. We are proud to be partnering with the team at Afro Unicorn and look forward to playing a pivotal role in delivering their message through our broad retail distribution.”

“I created Afro Unicorn to remind women and children of colour how unique, divine and magical they truly are,” says April Showers, Afro Unicorn’s Founder. “My goal from the beginning was to help normalise black beauty; to give black and brown girls a unicorn that represents them and encourages them to love the skin that they are in and embrace the crown on their heads, [to remind them that] you are unique, you are divine, and you are magical.

“When choosing a company to partner with it’s important for us that they understand the under-representation for children of colour in the market and want to fill that void in a major way to not only change the trajectory on how little brown and black girls see themselves but also how the world views them as well. Dan Dee and Animal Adventure not only understand it, they are committed to carrying out the vision of Afro Unicorn globally. Looking forward to all the unique, divine and magical unicorns that will come out of this partnership.”

Kids’ brand Afro Unicorn inks new partnerships

Posted on by

With a mission to provide a platform to uplift, promote and remind children of colour how special they truly are, Afro Unicorn founder April Showers has announced today the expansion of her lifestyle brand for kids (ages 2–12), with new licensing partners signed and a retail launch planned this year.

Afro Unicorn was established in 2019 with the ethos “representation matters”, and incorporates the brand values – “unique, divine, magical” – that every child of colour needs to be reminded of. Showers launched her concept with a direct-to-consumer programme of apparel and accessories, featuring the unicorn characters Unique (the leader), Divine (the motivator) and Magical (the persuader).

With a rapidly growing awareness across social media, Showers has organically grown a solid young fan base for Afro Unicorn, eager to engage with her brand and messaging. Most recently, she has signed multiple licensing partners, including H.E.R. Accessories (accessories), Jay Franco (bedding), MAD engine (apparel), Unique (party supplies), Handcraft (underwear), Silver Buffalo (drinkware) and Centric (sleepwear).

In the party supply category, Afro Unicorn will be one of the first (if not the first) from a black woman-owned brand. A range of products will begin rolling out this year with holiday-themed products also planned for Q4 2022.

Additional key categories in the works for the brand include publishing, toys, and animated content, among others. 

“Our goal from the beginning has been to give girls of colour a unicorn that represents them and encourages them to embrace their uniqueness, love themselves, and be empowered to go out into the world and trailblaze,” says Showers. “We have been so fortunate to holistically create a buzz around Afro Unicorn early on, catching the eyes of such accomplished black women as Tiffany Haddish and Alicia Keys, who have all promoted Afro Unicorn because of its authenticity. We want all of our products to speak directly to the underrepresented black woman and child, and we are thrilled to work with our licensing partners to create products that accomplish that mission.”