The ZSL x LIGA collaboration is inspired by three species from ZSL’s conservation programme – reticulated giraffes, Humboldt penguins and Asian elephants.

The homewears range spans cork and tile trivets, coasters and placemats alongside trays, printed mugs, tea towels, compostable dishcloths and memo boards.

“I am delighted with the range we have created with ZSL – it’s playful and appealing, whilst being respectful to the animals,” said Jennie Elderkin Founder of LIGA.

“The LIGA ethos is to only take what the planet is happy to give, and in return to give back. We are proud to be giving back with this project, supporting the conservation work of ZSL.”

Abbie Taylor, ZSL’s Brand Licensing Manager, added: “For us at ZSL, it’s vital that our products reflect our mission to protect species and their habitats. Therefore, we are thrilled to be launching this range with LIGA, a brand that shares our values on sustainability and responsible design.

“LIGA’s approach is centred on crafting beautiful, functional products using sustainable materials, so this collaboration is a great example of how we can bring nature into everyday living while encouraging more conscious consumer choices.”

Claire Potter, MD of Metrostar, said: “It’s always exciting to launch a collection with a team which is passionate about what they do. The LIGA team have poured their hearts and souls into every aspect of this range and we are delighted to see it getting such a positive reaction from retailers”.

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Metrostar is set to introduce the brand at BLE to retailers and licensees in clothing, stationery, homewares, dated, gifts and accessories.

Sanders de Roeper is the creative partnership of Tim Sanders and Hatty de Roeper. Together, they bring their backgrounds in fashion, advertising, and design to create vibrant, socially positive work. Their designs combine bold typography, humour and uplifting messaging – all underpinned by a desire to bring more meaning and joy to everyday life.

“Our work is ultimately about bringing uplifting moments into the everyday,” says co-founder Hatty de Roeper. She added: “We believe in the power of humour, colour, and thoughtful design to encourage and inspire.”

Sanders de Roeper greeting cards are stocked in Oliver Bonas, Postmark, and numerous independent retailers. They were spotted by Metrostar’s founder, Claire Potter, at the Harrogate Home & Gift Show. “Sanders de Roeper is irresistible and absolutely right for now.” says Claire. “Its gentle, optimistic, joyful, slightly bonkers aesthetic translates brilliantly into the key licensed product categories… We’re excited to showcase it at BLE.”

Speaking about the teaming, Tim Sanders concluded: “Partnering with Metrostar gives us the opportunity to share our message with a much wider audience. We’re absolutely delighted and incredibly excited. We’ve always believed in the power of collaboration, and with our dedication, passion, and experience, we see this as a unique and exciting opportunity.”

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The Reiss design team visited the Garden to explore its extensive archive of botanical illustrations. The resulting collection brings intricate floral prints to Reiss’s signature silhouettes and summer-ready styles, spanning dresses, denim, t-shirts, coordinating sets, vests, trousers, shorts,and swimwear.

“We all watched in wonder as the collection came together,” said Claire Potter, Managing Director at Metrostar.

“It really is the most amazing showcase for NYBG’s stunning archive and the perfect way to launch the New York Botanical Garden partnership programme in Europe.”

Christa Boeke, Vice President of Licensing at NYBG, added: “We were inspired by Reiss’s creative vision and are thrilled to see how beautifully our historic illustrations have been reimagined. It’s a wonderful way to share our conservation story and connect with audiences in Europe and beyond.”

Una Joyce, Chief Creative Officer at Reiss, said: “We are thrilled to partner with the New York Botanical Garden, bringing their rich botanical heritage to our contemporary designs. This collaboration combines our modern Reiss design aesthetic with bold, colourful blooms, harmoniously blending style and nature into luxurious summer wardrobe staples, and offering our customers unique pieces that celebrate both fashion and flora.”

The Reiss | NYBG collection marks NYBG’s first collaboration with a European brand. It was brokered by Metrostar, NYBG’s European licensing agent, in partnership with US based master agent Jewel Branding & Licensing.

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Claire Potter

Our meetings suggested that all licensing sectors are forecasting growth after some uncertain years in most cases. Most sectors have washed Covid out of their systems and while inflation continues to put pressure on margins – and the supply chain is still patchy – there was a sense that that is easing. Importantly, there were clear signals from retailers that they’re looking for ‘new’ and we had a number of walk ups from buyers interested in working with our brands for the first time.

A theme of our best meetings was innovation and how our brands can help brand partners and retailers to disrupt the consumer conversation. Licensing is being seen as an important part of the mix for both retailers and brands. Both in terms of creating retail theatre, range difference and shopper footfall, as well as expanding a brand’s footprint and relevancy amongst key audiences. Expect to see a number of nice collaborations in 2024!

Licensing also enables brands to realise their emotional footprint in product and commercial terms… That often means we need to layer on originality to the process and talk with those new to or at the margins of licensing. Previously we wouldn’t have looked to BLE to facilitate that, but this year the event attracted more of those companies and we enjoyed seeking them out and engaging with them through the matchmaking platform. It’s a complete joy to have strong interest from companies and brands new to licensing, and we’re progressing some really exciting projects.

“A theme of our best meetings was innovation – and how our brands can help partners and retailers disrupt the consumer conversation.”

From the point of view of an agency representing brands, one of the great innovations at BLE is the Independents stand. It gives every licensing agency – no matter how small – an affordable platform to showcase their brands and I wish it had existed when Metrostar started! Our clients don’t take stands of their own, so if we don’t exhibit, their brands are invisible at the industry’s most important event of the year – but it’s an expensive event for a start-up or small agency. The Independents stand means we can all contribute as a collective to BLE’s continued success.

Richard Pink, MD, Pink Key Licensing
The lockdowns and the transport issues immediately afterwards have had a knock-on effect that has lasted longer than anyone anticipated – and longer than others realise. The increased numbers at BLE are, I think, a reflection of the clearance of the overstocks brought about by these issues. I sense that retailers going forward are going to be more open and willing to look at licence-based opportunities that go beyond the sure-fire sellers.

“There’s likely to be a rise in opportunities that involve greater creativity and that’s a very good thing for the industry.”

There’s also likely to be a rise in the opportunities that involve greater creativity, and that’s a very good thing for the industry. The continued growth of collectables – and the new direction being driven by companies such as Zuru and brands like LOL – show different takes on what a collectable is. This highlights that the category is still very much in its infancy, with a lot more scope for expansion and diversification.

I also believe that we are only just seeing the real growth in the area of food licensing and there are many more creative collaborations that will emerge over the next 12 to 18 months.

Ian Downes, Director, Start Licensing
It was good to hear that visitor numbers were up this year. I have long held the view that licensing needs to have a good flow of new companies – and new categories – to ensure there is steady growth, which should also help ease the reliance on more long-standing categories.

Licensing has a strong entrepreneurial ethos and, as such, naturally attracts young start-up businesses. It can be a way of kick-starting a business. We definitely had a number of early-stage companies visit us at BLE and a number of these were direct to consumer businesses selling online. This is definitely an area of growth for licensing and presents a good opportunity for the industry – matching products with consumers efficiently should be a natural for licensing.

“One post-show suggestion is that BLE might consider a ‘New to Licensing’ lounge.”

Dovetailing with one of BLE’s themes this year, there is definitely growth in interest from leisure operators and event focused companies. Our client Aardman have made great strides in this area. It’s a category that seems to need a ‘licensing plus’ approach, with an emphasis on leveraging content fully and being tuned into new ways of delivering content… This is something Aardman excels at.

One post-show suggestion is that BLE might consider a ‘New to Licensing lounge’ – maybe in conjunction with Licensing International. We had a lot of IP owners seeking advice about bringing their IP to market… Being called Start Licensing in part explains this! The same was true of new to the industry manufacturers. I think a ‘drop in’ lounge that dispensed advice would work well and could be a hub for new companies. I could also see this being supported by law, accountancy and design firms who may relish the opportunity of meeting new companies.

Clare Piggott, MD, Larkshead Licensing
BLE discussions were certainly encouraging in terms of new business opportunities, but it’s still a little too early to tell when these discussions will translate into actual sales – ask me that question again in a couple of months and hopefully I will be brimming with enthusiasm for all our newly signed deals!

Larkshead launched our new partnership with Sweet Cherry Publishing at the show this year and we were very pleased with the response from prospective licensees and retailers. Having a proven track record in terms of global publishing sales, a savvy social media strategy and a mission to engage with all readers, Sweet Cherry is a vibrant, fresh voice which makes for an attractive licensing proposition. On top of that, if you add the distribution power of their sister company, Books 2 Door, you have an immediate route to market offering a retail solution for licensees.

Every business is facing challenges – so to be able to offer licensees a way to launch products to an already engaged audience is very helpful in presenting viable new brand opportunities.

“I’m impressed by the number of emerging brands from across Europe taking stands at BLE.”

Larkshead has always championed brands with a purpose and our portfolio has been reflective of this for some time now. Additionally, in terms of new business opportunities, we also recognised that our portfolio needed to diversify – so a new area for us launched at BLE this year is Factual Entertainment… We are working with a documentary film company, trusted to tell incredible human stories with creativity, authenticity and care on a wide range of subjects. This presents an opportunity to engage with a very different target market for licensing and certainly opened up new conversations for us at the show.

I’m also impressed by the number of emerging brands from across Europe taking stands at BLE. It was great to see Nelly Jelly back again this year and it was also good to meet with the teams from Simon Super Rabbit and Bibi’s World. These brands demonstrate an absolute belief in the power to take a home grown commercially successful brand and utilise BLE to demonstrate that success story.

Given current trading challenges, an increasing number of conversations on our booth at BLE focused on territories outside the UK. I’m optimistic that this will continue as BLE expands the number of international visitors to the show.

Jess Houston, Senior Manager, Product Development, Aardman
The Aardman stand was as busy as ever this year at Brand Licensing Europe. We swapped out the giant Shaun the Sheep for Wallace on a bench from one of our charity trails. This still provided us with a photo opportunity, but we really wanted to celebrate the upcoming Wallace & Gromit film releasing on the BBC in the UK and Netflix globally.

Alongside our UK Agent Start Licensing, the Aardman team met with partners old and new and had some really interesting conversations. We are hopeful that some of these will translate into new business. It’s still early to announce anything but we are positive!

I have personally been attending BLE since it began – and licensing has changed massively since then. Partners seem to be, understandably, more cautious and less willing to take risks. This has encouraged growth opportunities for trusted brands that people remember and have confidence in. Brands like Pokémon, Barbie, Peter Rabbit and, of course, the Aardman brands looked very strong at this year’s show. I think an offshoot of this is IP owners having to be more creative. Although heritage brands, new content is still really important to us. At Aardman we are finding that new content can come in many forms.

Aardman and Netflix are releasing new content this Christmas with the much awaited sequel Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget launching globally on December 15th. A trusted brand but with a new story for new audiences, 20 years later!

The release will be supported by a strong licensing programme, with product launching from the autumn across apparel, publishing, toy and games, gift and homeware. This includes a range of books with Macmillan Children’s Books, a fashion-led apparel range with Skinny Dip London and Aurora World have produced fun plush characters alongside a host of other licensing partners. This is a classic example of utilising new content.

Shaun the Sheep is Aardman’s best performing IP globally and our new ‘Shaun the Sheep: One Farm’ initiative utilises Shaun’s authentic link to the great outdoors, sustainable living and food to encourage participation in activities that will enhance and sustain our own world and lives. Successful partnerships to date include Natural England’s Countryside Code and The National Forest with further brand collaborations to be announced later in the year.

Growth for Aardman means creating new content but also keeping our product offerings interesting and creative. Alongside working with our established and experienced licensees, we’ve recently enjoyed working with smaller businesses that haven’t necessarily worked with licensed brands before. They often have the head-space to think creatively and out of the licensing box.

We are working with some amazing partners including nationwide not-for-profit alliance Veg Power, Little Beau Sheep on British wool laundry balls and soaps, and Willsow plantable books. Alongside this we have some exciting live event partners on The BAA-rilliant Hide and Sheep AR trail app available for venues to run at their properties and Championsheeps Live sports events now running at Haven Holiday Parks. This and constant investment in new design helps us keep the brand engaging.

As licensors we have to be creative, adaptable and ever-evolving… We need to embrace new sectors such as live events and digital gaming. It’s what keeps things interesting for us and our audiences.

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Ecoffeecup will collaborate on travel mugs, Tache will create greetings cards, Brand International will produce apparel and Milk will create bags and backpacks. All are in development for a 2024 launch.

“2024 promises to be our biggest year ever as Elmer book sales continue to grow and expand,” said Paul Black, Brand Director at Andersen Press.

“We are excited to be working with so many new partners and to be supporting so many good causes in Elmer’s 35th Birthday year.”

Metrostar Founder Claire Potter added: “Elmer is growing because Andersen Press support the brand and its programme. At licensees request, they established social media strategies which focus specifically on licensed products and many of their brand activations also provide new sales channels – which is a big draw for new partners. Once again, Elmer was one of our most talked-about properties at BLE.”

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The licensing programme for London Zoo will have a focus on engaging ‘the conservationists of tomorrow’ with items across homeware, stationary, toys and games, clothing, books and publishing.

“We are pleased to bring the world-renowned London Zoo to licensing for the very first time in our near 200-year history, with the support of Metrostar,” said Lee Duffy, London Zoo’s Head of Commercial.

“All profits from sales of brand licensed products will support London Zoo, ZSL and our work across the world to bring wildlife back from the brink of extinction. We are excited to see our iconic brand be curated into first-class products that stay true to our brand’s values, identity and vision, all while supporting our work.”

Metrostar Founder Claire Potter added: “London Zoo’s licensing mission is to capture the excitement and wonder of wildlife while supporting ZSL’s conservation work. We are excited to showcase the work of the ZSL conservation zoo and to present its amazing style guide to potential partners in a range of categories at BLE.”

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