We take a closer look at the eight big winners in the Product category.
The winners of the eight product categories at the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards covered a variety of big names – from Designers Guild through to DFS.
The first award of the afternoon was Best Brand Licensed Fashion Accessories or Lifestyle Product or Range (sponsored by CPLG).
The Smiley by Anya Hindmarch Collection was victorious, with the award collected by Smiley’s marketing director, Matt Winton.
“We put a lot of effort into this collaboration so it’s amazing to be recognised,” Matt commented. “It’s a great example of a high-end licensed fashion collaboration.”
Next up was Best Brand Licensed Health & Beauty Product or Range (sponsored by Select Licensing), with the Happy Jackson Boots Exclusive Range from H&A picking up the award.
Rachel Thomson, product manager at H&A, said: “We are so pleased and chuffed to win in this particular category.”
Best Adult Apparel Product or Range (sponsored by CAA-GBG) was awarded to the Love by Julien Macdonald Collection from Matalan.
Matalan’s ladies swimwear merchandiser Louise Redfern and Matalan’s director, Damian Hopkins collected the award.
Louise commented: “This is fabulous, I’m so excited. Matalan is a value retailer and this shows that we can make high-end brand collaborations available to everyone.”
Best Brand Licensed Gifting Product or Range (sponsored by House Beautiful and Country Living Magazine) was awarded to the Designers Guild Gift Range from Blueprint Collections.
A rather stunned Lisa Shand, md of Blueprint, told The Source: “This is unexpected as I think it was quite a competitive category.”
Best Brand Licensed Food or Beverage Product or Range (sponsored by Those Licensing People) was picked up by the Help for Heroes Alf Turner Range from Alf Turner, which was praised as being a great example of cause-related brand licensing.
Paul Turner from Alf Turner said: “I’m gobsmacked. This is the first time we have been nominated so it is just superb.”
Best Brand Licensed Homewares Product or Range (sponsored by Pink Key Consulting) was awarded to House Beautiful Sofas from DFS, with the hugely successful tie up helping to take a strong media brand into home décor.
DFS merchandise director, Jean Brixey, said: “This is fantastic. We’ve worked with House Beautiful since 2012 and the partnership has captured a different kind of customer.”
Best Brand Licensed Children’s Product or Range (sponsored by Start Licensing) was awarded to JCB Childrenswear for M&Co from Fashion UK, with Laura Clowes, licensing manager at Fashion UK picking it up.
The judges were impressed by the creative translation of such a strong brand into a stunning children’s collection and the full commitment that both M&Co and Fashion UK have put behind the range.
Laura commented: “This is a really nice surprise and unexpected. We have a great relationship with M&Co.”
The final award of the category was Best Brand Licensed Consumer Hard Goods Product or Range (sponsored by Golden Goose).
The winner was House of Marley Audio Range from HoMedics, with the award collected by Angela Farrugia, evp/group md of CAA-GBG.
The innovative collaboration linked a music icon with design-led technology.
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter.
