Former Fashion UK executive becomes brand marketing and licensing manager at online licensed merchandise specialist.
Having spent just shy of seven years at Fashion UK – most recently as licensing and business development manager – Laura Kelly is a familiar face in the licensing industry and is now looking to use her experience to help grow online retailer Vanilla Underground.
Laura (pictured) has joined the ambitious company as brand marketing and licensing manager. She will be focusing on working with the team and brand owners to market the collections already available on the website, as well as further building immersive ways in the online space.
Vanilla Underground – which was founded in 2006 as a family run business by husband and wife team, Deniz and Jason Yarnell – describes itself as an ‘online shopping experience’ dedicated to fans of movies, music, TV, art, gaming and comic books.
It stocks fashion lines such as t-shirts, hoodies, vests, sweaters, dresses and accessories, plus toys and gifts for men, women and children. Existing brands include Minecraft, Fortnite, Rick and Morty, Harry Potter, Peppa Pig, Wonder Woman, PAW Patrol, The Rolling Stones and Pokémon to name just a few.
“I was feeling the need to move onto a new challenge this year and after taking some time out to think about what I wanted to do, an opportunity arose to join the team at Vanilla Underground who I’d worked with as a supplier at Fashion UK,” Laura explained to LicensingSource.net. “It brings the new experiences and challenges of working in a retail environment for me and I’m really excited to join at this particular time as their presence as a retailer in the industry and to consumers is growing.
“We’re aiming not to only draw new audiences to our brand and site, but also to provide consumers with the opportunity to engage with a core community of fans through our social pages and immerse themselves in the latest topical franchise news via social and our blog we call the ‘VU Hub’.”
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