LicensingSource chats to Lauren Sizeland, head of licensing at V&A about how its licensing programme continues to develop, challenges, award wins and focuses for 2022.
“The original purpose of the V&A was to promote excellence in design and manufacturing, so we are delighted to be collaborating with so many amazing brands who have a real grasp of what works for home interiors and support British and International industry. A great deal of consideration and skill has been applied to every design.
The past 12 months has seen 23 new licensees join the raft of premium brands in the V&A portfolio. From the launch of skincare and cosmetics to sofas and continued relationships with licensees, some of more than 20 years, all have considered design and innovation at the core of a V&A collaboration.
March 2020 saw the launch of V&A’s debut collection with Blinds2go – inspired by the most comprehensive collection of Morris’ works in virtually every medium held at the V&A, Blinds 2go created a beautiful collection of made to measure blinds and curtains.”
“Moving across the pond, Entryways is a US brand that creates hand-painted 100% natural coir doormats. Galison, also based in the US, has created beautiful embroidered pouches and journals featuring delicate floral patterns and embellished with hand-embroidered details all based on William Morris designs from the V&A archive. The V&A also launched its first collection with LEDiN in China – a 24-piece fashion and accessories collection including dresses, separates, scarves and hair accessories inspired by some of the museum’s most popular archive designs.
The museum’s ongoing collaboration with People Tree continues to go from strength to strength, with the AW21 range taking inspiration from the museum’s archive to create ornate patterns reimagined in contemporary colour palettes, all printed onto sustainable fabrics.
There is also a new collaboration with That Company Called IF, with the company having selected bright, colourful and on-trend patterns from the museum’s archive of textile and wallpaper designs to apply to lifestyle and stationery ranges. The collection includes a pen pouch, glasses case, an eco-leather phone pocket and V&A notebooks.
Finally, the V&A continues its collaboration with Museums and Galleries, with the greeting cards and gift stationery collection continually evolving to showcase the museum’s expanding archives.”
This feature originally appeared in the autumn 2021 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.
