National Gallery’s Judith Mather on collaborating with Dr Martens, success in apparel and overseas growth.
The heritage sector – from museums and galleries, through to universities, gardens and stately homes – continues to gain momentum when it comes to licensing, with 2022 having seen some high profile product launches and collaborations.
LicensingSource.net catches up with some of the companies operating in the sector.
Today: Judith Mather, b2b and brand licensing director, National Gallery.
“The highlight from the gallery would be our collaboration with Dr Martens. We created four products as part of this collaboration – two shoes with Seurat Bathers and Monet The Water-Lily Pond, a traditional Van Gogh Sunflowers boot and a multi artwork back bag. This sold very well in the UK with very strong international sales.
Apparel has also proven quite strong this year – we continue our work with Blackstone Designs, Poetic Brands and Pull and Bear. Our presence in North and South America went from strength to strength this year; we have see exponential growth in the appetite for art-related merchandise.
Currently, we are searching for new UK and international partnerships and licensees within home products, and in particular bedding and ceramics.
We are launching some exciting collaborations with Canned Wine and are in our sixth year with the Delicious Art brand in Boots. We are also exploring experiential pop-ups to coincide with our 200th anniversary in 2024.”
This feature originally appeared in the autumn 2022 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.
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