Those on the hunt for licensing options or to get a feel for what is going on in the world of licensing, will be gearing up to visit Brand Licensing Europe, which takes place next week – 10-12 October at London’s Olympia.
While the main focus of Carte Blanche Group’s stand at BLE will be on its Tatty Teddy and Dinky brands, its Hotchpotch brand’s success – as evidenced by its Flair range being in the finals in two Henries categories – is to transcend its greeting card ranges through licensing.
Leading giftware distributor, Widdop & Co is deepening its relationships with the greeting card industry with a launch giftware lines based on Carte Blanche’s Hotchpotch portfolio. The new range, which will launch at Spring Fair will bring some of Hotchpotch’s trend-led designs onto a wide range of giftware.
Emma Pearce, senior designer of Hotchpotch comments, “Here at Hotchpotch we are beyond excited to be working with Widdop & Co! We’re committed to quality, so we’re delighted to be partnering with a brand that shares this focus. We can’t wait for spring to see the launch of the first range of Hotchpotch giftware featuring some of our best-selling designs.”
Widdop & Co enjoys considerable success with licensing greeting card brands, including Paper Salad and Wendy Jones-Blackett.
Autumn Fair last month saw the giftware company feature a range of figurines and gifts based on Grass Roots’ Deco and Debbi Moore collections.
Another of Widdop’s recent signings is another brand that debuted on greeting cards – The Happy News, based on the upbeat musings and quirky illustrations by Emily Coxhead. Set to join the greeting card range from Pigment (which is in the finals of The Henries), from is an extensive gift range from Widdop, stationery from Blueprint Collections while dated lines from Portico will follow. Moonpig has also partnered with The Happy News and Penguin Random House is to publish a creative journal ‘Make Someone Happy’ which will hit stores in the spring.
DRi is handling the licensing for The Happy News, and will be featuring the brand on its stand at BLE next week.
