February 2020 Issue Apparel February 2020 issue | Page 99

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
“DISNEY AND WARNER
BROS. HAVE LEVERAGED
THE POWER OF
LICENSING TO BUILD A
LARGE SALES NETWORK.”
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adults. Disney and Warner Bros. have leveraged
the power of licensing to build a large sales
network in India, which is close to R1,000 crore
(including kidswear retail) in my estimate.”
Jiggy George, founder and CEO of Dream
Theatre, one of India’s foremost brand
management and licensing representation
agencies with interests across sectors of
entertainment, sports, and lifestyle, said, “We
STARTING OFF
Speaking about the brand’s beginnings, Sobti
shares, “We started our journey in 2011 with
Yash Raj Films’ brand extension programme. We
first started with licensing for their films including
Dhoom 3, Band Baaja Baaraat, Gunday, Ek Tha
Tiger, and so on. For movies such as Dhoom 3
and cult films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,
we were licensing partners for apparel, home
decor, social expressions, mobile games, and the
like. Having spent a few months delving deeply
into the industry, we realised that there is potential
to create an ethnic wear brand for women using
the charisma of the heroines of Yash Chopra’s
films. The only instances of licensing in India at
the time were Being Human, Chhota Bheem,
Patanjali, and Yash Raj Films. Soon after, all
celebrities wanted to launch their own labels,
starting from Hritik Roshan (HRX), Deepika
Padukone (All About You), Sonam Kapoor
(Rheson), Virat Kohli (Wrogn), Yuvraj Singh (You
We Can), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Seven), Shahid
Kapoor (Skult), Tiger Shroff (Prowl), Anushka
Sharma (NUSH), Jacqueline Fernandez (Just
F), and others. The celebrity business for 2019
would easily be approximately R2,000 crore
including all brands; and it is estimated to reach
the billion-dollar mark in the next four to five years
(considering new launches as well).”
Speaking about other categories, Sobti shares,
“As far as international brands are concerned,
Disney has been working in India since the
early 1990s. With its acquisition of Marvel, the
popularity of Avengers, and the offline/online fan-
connect through Comic Con editions, it has seen
an upsurge in the past five to seven years. The
sales are across ages—kids, teens, youth, and
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