D&D fans will be spoilt for choice when it comes to fashion over the coming months, with new collaborations lined up for the beloved property ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2024.
Dungeons & Dragons x Hatstore will see the headwear specialist add further designs to its existing range of D&D caps, available in the UK and Europe, while Dungeons & Dragons x KOI, a collaboration with the British-designed footwear brand known for its boundary-pushing styles that blend genres, will offer a stylish range of D&D footwear.
The brand has also partnered with fashion and lifestyle brand Mavi for Dungeons & Dragons x Mavi, a new range of t-shirts for men featuring four graphic designs reflecting the heritage of D&D, available for purchase now at Mavi stores and online in Turkey, and teamed up with online retailer Shirtstore for launch on-demand goods based on much-loved brands Dungeons & Dragons, Transformers, My Little Pony and G.I. Joe. Hasbro x Shirtstore products including t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts are available now online in Europe and the UK, with new designs slated to launch soon.
LicensingSource.net asked Hasbro’s Marianne James, vp EMEA and Asia, licensed consumer products, to tell us more about D&D’s latest partnerships in the fashion space, and to share the company’s plans for the property as it heads towards its milestone birthday.
Dungeons & Dragons is the most iconic role-playing game in the world. What has kept it relevant for all these years?
Dungeons & Dragons has been one of the most iconic tabletop roleplaying games for years now – dating back to the 1970s! I think some of the things that keep the game relevant are the stories and moments that people build around the table. The shared storytelling worlds that fans create are enduring, which allows D&D to stand the test of time. These stories are so iconic – the knight defending their kingdom, the adventurer setting out for a life that’s bigger than his own – that it becomes the sort of fable that people can relate to.
Beyond the tabletop, the game pops up in so many places that allow our fanbase to grow, such as the wildly popular series Stranger Things, which has helped introduce D&D to younger audiences and give it that ultra ‘cool’ factor. The franchise has also been seen in The Big Bang Theory and Riverdale and was given its very own theatrical film, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves featuring a line-up of superstar talent, which acted as a launching pad to further take D&D to new heights. Additionally, with celebrity fans like Post Malone, Tiffany Haddish, Joe Manganiello, Deborah Ann Woll, Vin Diesel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and many more, D&D proves to insert itself in pop culture time and time again. What’s more, the rise of actual gameplay shows like Critical Role on Twitch helps fans enjoy the experience even more. These are all just symptoms of the infections joy D&D brings to the table and beyond.
Can you tell us about the core fan base/the brand’s demographic? How wide-reaching is it in terms of age and gender?
Dungeons & Dragons is truly for everyone. The game has been around since the 1970s and has become passed down from the older generation and the gens to follow, leading to the current digital generation you see today that gather online on communities like Roll20 and Discord to engage with the game. D&D also happens to have a balanced demographic. Though many men connect with the brand, we also have a very strong fanbase of women. As for female celeb fans, Michelle Rodriguez and Felicia Day are pop culture icons who’ve embraced the iconic game.
Apparel is usually the fan’s first choice to signify their love of a brand. Is it the most important licensing category for D&D?
Apparel is certainly a key category for Dungeons & Dragons – we recognise that people want to show off their fandom through the clothes and accessories they wear. Sporting their pride for D&D through their everyday wear allows fans to connect with others who share the same passion as well. Our hope is to build the community even more by allowing fans to spark up conversation about D&D simply by seeing the iconic brand and artwork being showcased on others’ clothing.
In EMEA and North America, we’ve launched a D&D collab with Burgschneider, one of the most renowned suppliers of LARP fashion, featuring premium, high-quality D&D collections. In the US, we just launched a line with Boss Dog, delivering men’s and junior’s D&D streetwear based on the beloved franchise.
With Hatstore, KOI, Mavi and Shirtstore, we’re aiming to greatly build D&D’s fashion offerings in the EMEA region so fans can be dripped head to toe with D&D – through hats, t-shirts, hoodies, footwear and much more. With these brand-new offerings, we’re giving fans more ways for them to celebrate D&D’s 50th anniversary next year.
How do you tap into what D&D fans want, in terms of consumer products and partnerships?
Dungeons & Dragons fans are very passionate about sharing feedback with us on what they like and what they don’t like. They engage with us heavily on social media, and we closely monitor those socials by taking in their feedback. Additionally, conventions like Penny Arcade Expo or GenCon allow us to connect with our fans in-person as well and gather real-time feedback.
To dig further into our fans’ feedback, we have a powerhouse consumer insights and data analytics team helping us to track the wants of our fans. These capabilities capture fan feedback at scale and dictate our brand strategies and product offerings.
Can you tell us about the licensing strategy/strategies for D&D in EMEA and Asia? Are they both mature markets? Do they require very different approaches?
Both markets are growing at a rapid pace – we hesitate to call any market “mature” because there’s always room for it to grow through new and exciting partnerships, with new ways to delight fans around the world. However, we do think that our new slate of partnerships is a stride in the right direction for meeting our fans where they are through local shops. Rather than relying on international and third-party companies overseas, we’ve focused on building homegrown offerings so fans can have rapid access to their favourite brands.
Are there any territories or categories where you see growth potential for D&D?
D&D in Asia specifically is a massive area of growth potential for the brand. We’ve recently begun a marketing campaign in Asia focusing around creating anime based avatars for our Dragons of Stormwreck Isle pre-generated characters, complete with famous voice actors. This campaign has proven to be very successful and has drawn attention to Dungeons & Dragons, a brand that traditionally has underperformed in Japan.
We’ve also seen a lot of success in the digital space with licensing D&D. For instance, the launch of Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 has proven to be very successful, drawing in over 800,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch.
Consumer products continue to be at the core of our growth initiatives as well. D&D has reached consumers across other wide-ranging formats through partnerships that highlight its multi-generational community and invite even more people to join the adventure. From brand-new plush toys and collectibles available at Build-A-Bear and Kidrobot, to Culture Fly & Champion streetwear, Super7 ReAction figures and so much more, there’s something for every D&D supporter.
Are speciality pop culture and online retailers D&D’s natural home? Or is D&D now a mass-market brand?
It’s a bit of both. We of course want to target online retailers as that’s where we feel that our audience shops, but with Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves proving to be so popular and other cultural influences driving D&D, we think that there’s massive potential for the brand to show up in shops all over the world.
