When at Pitti Uomo, we reported how rare it is to find labels using cartoon’s characters to create fresher collections, like it frequently happened some seasons ago. In Florence, most of the lifestyle brands are turning their attention to FMCG brands for collaborations, or simply are building their own branding stories with proprietary contents, like PS Paul Smith with its cycling graphics, for example.
On the other hand, this is not true in Berlin, where platforms like Panorama, Premium, Seek, and Bright (which somehow took over from the late Bread and Butter) showcase the best for the next 2018 season with a number of licensed characters and pop icons.
Peanuts leads the pack, seen licensed to the French Paul and Joe, the Dutch Essentiel, and the German Onomato!. But then Felix with Scotch and Soda (which we featured on our BrandJam Mag) , DC Comics superheroes, and the obligatory Micky and Minnie are quite present into the 2018 collections.
Emoticons still occupy a heavy space in the women aesthetic, and the continuity of the patch trend help. But one detail did not escape to our attention: how Karl Lagerfeld has become a cartoon character himself.
Allowing licensees to play with the same pop treatments that lifestyle and luxury brands are developing with the cartoon icons seems to be pivotal, so Karl’s avatar comes to the rescue, and adds to his kitten Choupette, which opened this cartoonification process.
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