License to kill ( a brand )

Pierre Cardin vintage .

12.11.2020

There is only one fashion brand at the list of the biggest global licensors, which is Pierre Cardin, who is placed as number 55 at he list of 150 , even higher up than the world famous Danish toy brand, Lego .

Brands trade off the right to use their names and logos in certain goods categories, such as eyewear, fragrance, beauty, and jewellery, among others, in exchange for royalties .

The, somewhat, tragic story about Gabrielle Coco Chanel who regretted her sale of the license for her first perfume Chanel number 5, is wellknown, but others sell the license of their brand to make the spirit of the Haute Couture core product, more accessible to the average consumer and to keep the name alive .

It largely started in the late 1940’s, when Christian Dior began marketing Dior stockings in the United States, creating a system to license hosiery. The following year the Paris-based design house began to license its neckties. According to a statement from Dior, “all accessories followed, and within three years, this system was copied by all the couture houses.”

Many brands glasses and sunglasses are manufactured by the same company, Luxotticathe eyewear company, that acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute, for instance, Prada, Burberry, Tom Ford and Chanel sunglasses.

Pierre Cardin is a wellknown fashion designer, that has won three Gold Timbale by Cartier awards, in the category “most creative collections” and was, indeed, creative as he since 1972, amongst many other things, created 16 new fragrances for men and also found time to create future and space age designs for women, that is often to be found at exhibitions like, the current, Pierre Cardin Fashion Future at the Brooklyn Museum.

Pierre Cardin has over the years, licensed his name to a wide spread catalogue of products, which is why you can find his name on baby potties, cars and almost anything in between. The name Pierre Cardin is widely represented at any street market and discount shop in France, which also has been noted by the press that writes ;

“Pierre Cardin used his name as a brand, initially a prestigious fashion brand, then in the 1960s expanded successfully into perfumes and cosmetics. From about 1988 the brand was licensed extensively, and appeared on “wildly nonadjacent products such as baseball caps and cigarettes”. A 2005 article in the Harvard Business Review commented that the extension into perfumes and cosmetics was successful as the premium nature of the Pierre Cardin brand transferred well into these new, adjacent categories, but that the owners of the brand mistakenly attributed this to the brand’s strength rather than to its fit with the new product categories. The extensive licensing eroded the brand’s credibility, but brought in much revenue; in 1986 Womens Wear Daily estimated Cardin’s annual income at over US $10 million. 1995 quotes from WWD included “Pierre Cardin—he has sold his name for toilet paper. At what point do you lose your identity?” and “Cardin’s cachet crashed when his name appeared on everything from key chains to pencil holders”. However, the Cardin name was still very profitable, although the indiscriminate licensing approach was considered a failure.”In 2011, Cardin tried to sell his business, valuing it at €1 billion, although the Wall Street Journal considered it to be worth about a fifth of that amount. Ultimately he did not sell the brand.

The baby potties, nail grooming sets and mens underwear aren`t mentioned, much, at the Pierre Cardin website, but his designs from the 1960s and 1970s are well represented and it is certain that the merchandise, has made Signor Pierre Cardin a wealthy man, that has invested in many art projects and property with provenance .

It might have been a clever business disposition, to spread the name and Pierre Cardin might even have lost interest in designing Haute Couture. We feel it is a loss for fashion, but are happy that some items still are available as vintage or rather as retro, as they are typical of the time in which they were made, and are statement pieces today, but not as integratable as classic pieces by Yves Saint Laurent or Chanel .