John Carolan from Sainsbury’s Tu talks trends, diversity and top sellers.
There is a great diversity of properties in the licensing space at the moment, making it a really rich scene.
That’s the view of John Carolan, head of buying at Sainsbury’s Tu clothing, women’s, men’s and children.
John – pictured above with colleague Abi Wilson – spoke to Licensing Source Book as part of the judging of the product categories for this year’s Licensing Awards.
He commented: “There is a rich scene in licensing at the moment, across a great diversity of properties – films, literary, classic, new hits, plus a few disrupters.
“PAW Patrol continues to score on the programme front while on the film front, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, My Little Pony and, of course, The Last Jedi are having an impact on licensing.
“The big trends across all licensed apparel is trading-up and fashioning-up. Expectations are higher than ever before – as evidenced by the popularity of two-way sequins and fashion shapes on products.”
John also believes that the licensing industry can make more of events such as Book Week.
“There is further to be gained on licensed menswear, while Book Week will continue to bring benefits to licensed children’s dress-up.
“In the run up to Christmas, on the children’s front we feel confident with The Gruffalo, Elmer and Guess How Much I Love You as these resonate with the wider family.”
John concluded: “You have to take into account that 60% of our children’s products are bought by people who actually do not have children so they need to be recognisable properties.”
This feature originally appeared in the autumn 2017 edition of Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
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