46-47 LSB Collegiate 2023 (SL)_GF.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 21/09/2023 21:16 Page 1
THE GROWTH OF COLLEGIATE LICENSING
Inset: ASPIRE has added a third Ivy League school to its portfolio in the form of Columbia University. Below: H&M is one of the retailers which has been enjoying success with collegiate brands.
Earning through learning Inset: New
It was one of the three top performing growth property categories in 2022, according to Licensing International, and the collegiate sector is now making its impact felt in the UK, with retailers including Primark, H&M, Zara and Pull & Bear among others all seeing success with product. LSB gets ready to head back to school to find out more.
T
he collegiate licensing sector is already a big deal in the US – notably, it was one of the top performing growth categories in 2022 (+11.4%) according to Licensing International’s 2023 Global Licensing Industry Study. The sector benefitted from more in-person attendance at collegiate sporting events, plus the continued evolution of agents, player associations and College NIL booster collectives brokering licensing deals for college athletes. And its impact is growing in the UK, too. “The demand for college merchandise in international markets is driven in part by each school’s fan base, but more so by their aspirational appeal and iconic logos and mascots that portray Americana,” says Natalie Horne, senior director of licensing at IMG which, via its American counterpart CLC, works with numerous US colleges. “Some schools are better known than
others, either because of their alumni, sports success or educational prestige. When people travel to the US and connect emotionally with a place, for example New York or Florida, or they aspire to an American lifestyle, eg, California surf, we also see that influences the demand for those respective schools in international markets.” ASPIRE, WildBrain CPLG’s corporate and lifestyle division, first partnered with Yale back in 2017, with its first collaboration landing in Zara menswear. The division has recently taken over the North American business for Yale, while it also works with Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Cambridge and University of Southern California. “Collegiate brands possess an ability to play into different fashion and social trends, such as athleisure, logomania, preppy style, Americana and nostalgia,” says Victoria Whellans,
Dreaming spires “My sense is that English brands, such as Oxford or Cambridge, have a resonance overseas, not just because of the growing number of alumni across the globe but also the heritage that comes with it,” offers Dec McCarthy, head of publishing and licensing at the Ashmolean Museum (which is part of the University of Oxford). “Oxford has had a university since the eleventh century, coming long before the Aztec empire or Genghis Khan. It is that sheer longevity which will bring appeal.” Dec believes that the possibilities for growth for the collegiate sector in the UK are “vast”. He continues: “Not only does Oxford have incredible gardens, libraries and museums, it also has science, invention and technology. There are so many areas to tap into through these avenues.”
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LICENSING SOURCE BOOK 2023