Wearable Pop Culture

The merchandising market is growing at a great pace, giving fans an opportunity to wear their favourite comic characters, sports team logos, and even popular movie dialogues in the form of apparel. Meera Warrier finds out.

- Meera Warrier

What do Chacha Chaudhary, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Dwayne Bravo have in common? An entire range of T-shirts and other merchandise named after them and/or carrying their mugshots and iconic lines!

Cartoon characters we have grown up with, icons we have looked up to, movie characters whose dialogues we have come to repeat at opportune moments—all are now being immortalized with the rapidly growing merchandising opportunity that brands have come to leverage in this country.

Sports icons, actors, and storybooks and mythological characters—all are now riding on their brand equity in the merchandising space.

MARKET MATTERS

The global licensing industry is estimated at more than $270 billion annually. While the United States (US) and Canada remain markets that are driving the largest volumes for licensed products and services, India, China, and Brazil seem to show the most potential worldwide. The emergence of e-commerce across the length and breadth of the country has been a huge contributor in this respect.

Brank Monk Licensing, Dream Theatre, and Black-White Orange are some of the key players that are paving the way for the licensing industry.

According to Rohit Sobti, founder and CEO, Brank Monk Licensing, films—both Indian and International—(popular) shows on the web and television, cartoon characters, iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Indian and global sports teams, art and, of course, celebrities, are driving the market to reach its potential valuations.

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