V&A

from Total Brand Licensing Summer 22

Total Art Licensing

2021 was another year of growth with some fantastic success for the V&A brand licensing programme as it continued to grow with new ranges and activations in key territories, enabling existing and new audiences to connect with the V&A’s collections. Now with 95 licensees’ globally, it achieved an astounding 22 debut launches and signed 24 new licensees, whilst launching over 1,400 products last year, proving the V&A brand’s ongoing appeal and reach across multiple product categories. The V&A’s brand licensing programme has been more vital than ever over the last two years. Whilst the doors to the museum were closed, the key focus was to bring art and culture into people’s homes across the globe. We enabled licensees to launch new products, open stores, and create content even whilst in lockdowns!

Broadening the V&A’s reach in the US, York Wallcoverings will shortly launch their debut collection which showcases some of the best artists of the British Arts and Crafts Movement, featuring works by the architect-designer C.F.A. Voysey, who advocated honest design of only the finest quality and craftsmanship. York Wallcoverings has reproduced two patterns from the museum’s archive based on the artists original designs with his natural colour palette updated to work in contemporary homes. In celebration of the V&A’s popular exhibition Alice: Curiouser & Curiouser, many of its licensees across the globe used archival inspiration to launch products, including US doormat specialist Entryways who expanded their range to include Alice in Wonderland-themed welcome mats. The designs were based on Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations for the Lewis Carroll book published in 1865. With a fresh palette of pastel colours, humorous Alice-like quotes and instantly recognisable illustrations, the new doormats offer welcoming wit.

Entryways also launched other collections which drew upon the natural beauty of plants of flowers. Three mats were inspired by 19th-century Arts and Crafts designers William Morris and J.H. Dearle, whose textiles and wallpapers were the basis for three lush botanical designs. More design inspiration came from a delicately patterned Japanese silk textiles.

In an exciting twist for ceramics, Richard Brendon’s range of exquisite bone china, shone a light on the golden era of Georgian ceramics, which was featured in Goop’s Holiday Etiquette Guide 2021, and excitingly, won the award for Best Brand Licensed Homewares, Kitchen & Tabletop Product or Range at this year’s B&LLA awards! The exquisite range consists of four striking saucers to pair with his signature gold and platinum reflective teacups, as well as four decorative mugs which take inspiration from the V&A’s vast archives to re-imagine with playful, whimsical, and contemporary twists. The collection perfectly reframes original masterpieces in an imaginative way and is a homage to British craftsmanship both past and present. Indeed, a great deal of consideration has gone into the research, design, and creation of each of the saucers: the attention to detail in the patterns, illustrations, printing and manufacturing is second to none. The whole collection is a result of the phenomenally skilled potters of Stoke-on-Trent, the home of British ceramics.

Plus, V&A licensee Papier - a British online e-commerce brand that sells personalised stationery, recently opened their first office in New York, which is a very exciting move for the business, and the V&A team are looking forward to further developments this year! Despite its challenges, 2021 delivered some fantastic debut launches for the V&A and the continued growth of its product offering and global reach. With new licensees joining and more launches from existing partners, its success indicates its ongoing appeal, enabling new and existing audiences to connect with the V&A’s magnificent collections. The V&A brand is a powerful endorsement of authentic-

ity, high quality and trust, from which licensees simultaneously build and benefit. The V&A’s founding mission was to make art and design accessible to all and the award-winning Brand Licensing programme offers an almost infinite source of design inspiration for a multitude of product categories, reaching broad audiences and all age groups.