Character Wear’s Phil King on making designs stand out in a crowded sector

Phil, since we last spoke you have joined Character Wear, creating a licensing offering for them. Can you tell us more about Character Wear and your plans with the business?
Character Wear specialises in the supply of licensed character apparel across the retail market. It has a long history in the world of collectables, and we are looking to take this experience and expand this into the apparel market.

The new business is focusing on bringing current and classic brands to market, from pop culture to gaming and anime titles. We want to offer a range of properties and designs to work across the entertainment retail sector and beyond.

Can you let us know about your current portfolio?
We focus on the more niche adult properties… From the anime titles of Naruto Shippendum and Hatsune Miku, to the classic horror titles in the MGM catalogue and Hammer House of Horror. We hope to bring a new spin to these classic properties.

That said, there are also classic TV shows like Sesame Street and Red Dwarf joining our portfolio. Ultimately, we are trying to offer slightly different licenses to other businesses.

On that, what do you look for in a brand?
With our focus being more adult-based properties, we have a few elements we look for when considering a new license. Nostalgia or heritage brands seem to be driving the core of this market. We tend to look for brands with either a humour base or edgy horror style. There is still a strong Japanese influence in the market, so anime properties feature high on our list of properties we consider.

“We are trying to offer slightly different licenses to other businesses.”

What are the challenges facing suppliers of licensed apparel at the moment?
There are always challenges. Just now there seems to be a lack of new properties being released, and the market always likes freshness. Outside of this, retail is still very tough and we have seen more suppliers entering into our market as other areas are quiet.

Design-wise, how do you ensure your products stand out in the market?
Making designs stand out is difficult in a crowded marketplace, but the best formula is keep designs simple. If you are a fan of the property, you want to have the key element that represents the show identifiable on the shirt. We do also try and create designs that only real fans recognise, but mostly keep the designs ‘obvious’.

How much do wider fashion trends impact your design and product development?
Trends always impact your design ideas. For instance, there are strong Japanese influences in the market, so you see classic properties have incorporated this into their designs. This might be phrases or poster art in Japanese… We do react to trends coming through.

If you were recruiting a designer for your business, what attributes would you be looking for?
We always look for an understanding of the market… You do not have to be a fan of the shows, just have an understanding to what makes them popular. An eye to what is trending is also an important element in what we look for.

Finally, focusing on one specific category of licensing rights – music – what would be your top three picks in terms of iconic designs from that genre?
Music is always that evergreen genre – the classic rock shirts always seem to be popular. From that you have to go for The Ramones, The Rolling Stones and Metallica.

Good picks! Thanks again Phil.