This year’s edition of Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) on 20-22 September at ExCeL London will take a fashion theme. CWB learns more. 

 

Pop into any supermarket, department store, or kids’ clothing specialist, and you’ll see hundreds of items featuring popular characters and brands from the worlds of books, TV, movies and video games. Characters like Cocomelon, Hey Duggee, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Sonic the Hedgehog, Peter Rabbit, Fortnite and Harry Potter.

Kids feel a real sense of connection to these characters and brands. They give them a feeling of belonging, reassurance and comfort. For younger children, it’s like having an imaginary friend. For older ones, these characters can be aspirational, ‘cool’ to be aligned with, and help them to fit in.

These well-established fanbases are one of the reasons it’s such a no brainer for retailers and manufacturers to work with branded products; that sense of certainty is a Holy Grail for any sector, but particularly so in the retail environment.

Retailers can sell exclusive branded product ranges at a premium and attract new customers to their shop floors by tapping into the loyal fanbases of these characters and well-loved brands.

 

 

Brand Licensing Europe

Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) has been educating retailers, manufacturers and product designers about the business growth potential of working with brands for over two decades. It has also been providing them with the connections to do so through introductions to the brands that their consumers love, such as The Smurfs; Pokémon; Peter Rabbit; Cocomelon; Care Bears; The Gruffalo; Asterix; Barbie; Sophie La Girafe and many more.

Retailers from across Europe attend BLE to discover new IP and plans for evergreen brands, including childrenswear buyers from Carrefour; Inditex; Primark; John Lewis; Marks and Spencer; George @ Asda; Character.com; Matalan; Amazon; Tesco; Next and JoJo Maman Bébé.

Several kids’ brands are also celebrating anniversaries this year. Expect extra show sparkle from Tetris and the Care Bears, which turn 40. Also, Teletubbies, which is 25, and In the Night Garden, which is 15.

 

 

Hitting the catwalk

BLE takes place 20-22 September at ExCeL London and has adopted a fashion theme for 2022. This will include live daily catwalk shows, a fashion-focused keynote and tactile, inspirational product showcases.

Ten, 15-minute fashion shows will hit the central catwalk across BLE’s three event days, with each show themed around key licensing categories. Visiting retailers, designers and manufacturers can expect professional, expertly made-up and choreographed models (kids and adults), stunning lighting, and great tunes as the brands’ collections are strutted along the catwalk.

 

 

There are seven category focuses including children, collabs, footwear and sustainability.

The fashion theme will weave its way throughout BLE, including:

• High-end product showcases on display close to the catwalk and in the main entrances featuring products modelled in the catwalk shows.
• The License Global Theatre featuring several sessions and two keynotes dedicated to fashion.
• Content curated by sustainability global educational hub Products of Change driving the importance of sustainability in fashion.

Commenting is Anna Knight, SVP of Licensing, Informa Markets. “From Primark x Harry Potter, Uniqlo x Pokémon, and Natural History Museum x Fantastic Beasts, to Selfridges opening as a fully functioning online retailer in the Metaverse and amazing in-store experiences popping up all over the world, children’s fashion is an incredibly exciting space to be in right now. The impact it can have on brands, and brands can have on it, is endless.

“We have been desperate to run a fashion themed BLE for a few years. The pandemic made it impossible in 2020 and again in 2021, but with everything going on in fashion right now – from design and creativity, to supply chains and distribution, diversity and ethics, and sustainability and responsibility – we will have more to talk about than ever before and I’m so excited about giving the licensing industry this platform to discuss and inspire.”

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