February 2020 Issue Apparel February 2020 issue | Page 100

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Real Madrid, and Liverpool Football Club and
we are taking significant shelf space, both online
and offline. The secondary sales data, too, is
validating demand.”
have definitely witnessed change. In the past
eight or ten years, the industry has moved from
being animation- and kid-centric to becoming
more broad-based—we now have fashion
and lifestyle, sports, celebrity, and brand and
corporate licensing. The audience profile has
grown to accommodate pre-schoolers and
toddlers at one end and teens, youth, and adults
on the other. E-commerce is allowing fans to
access authentic merchandise from towns
and cities that are otherwise not serviced by
traditional retailers. The biggest change is in the
key retailers, who are now in play with direct-to-
retail licensing, which just describes the power
licensing has to grow the business.”
He adds that Disney is big, no doubt, but
what is exciting is that licensing firms like his
are not only making a dent in the animation/
entertainment space but are also stealing a march
with their lifestyle and sports brands. “There is a
big market for brands such as Hello Kitty, Smiley,
92
I APPAREL I
February 2020
LICENSING OF CARTOON CHARACTERS
The beloved Chacha Chaudhary has made
a comeback in a new avatar, with Bollywood
actress Anushka Sharma’s brand NUSH. Chacha
and his giant companion Sabu now enjoy their
own quirky collection with NUSH.
Speaking on the launch of the collection,
Sharma said, “I used to read Chacha Chaudhary
throughout my school days. I remember getting
lost in the world of Chacha and his partner Sabu,
who used to solve such interesting cases, every
single day. I want to bring back the cult nostalgia
of the 90’s and present it in the most pop-culture
way through fashion. Before there was computer,
there was our Indian detective Chacha Chaudhary
whose brain was sharper than a needle and faster
than a computer! I want this collection to relive
his genius. Homegrown comics and such heroes
were an essential part of any child’s growing up
years in India in the 90s and we want to present
this to the world and relive the coolness of the
era gone by. I am very happy to welcome Chacha
Chaudhary into the NUSH family.”
Another interesting launch this year was Fukrey
Boyzzz, a production from Discovery Kids India in
association with Excel Entertainment from the hit
franchise Fukrey. Discovery India has partnered
with Black White Orange (BWO) to maximise
the reach of this newly launched intellectual
property (IP) beyond television. BWO, along
with Discovery India and Excel Entertainment,
will represent the IP across a wide range of
categories including apparel.