The most expensive piece of clothing sold by the Walt Disney Company six years ago was a $75 sweatshirt embossed with a mug shot of Mickey Mouse. By Magic Kingdom decree, home furnishings were required to exhibit at least one Disney character, leading to children’s play rugs ($65, in Pluto) and nightlights ($9.95, in Winnie the Pooh). Disney still peddles all those things. But now the company also sells $3,900 designer wedding gowns — no characters in sight — and women’s cashmere sweaters “inspired by Tinker Bell.” Interior design offerings include $2,800 leather club chairs and $6,000 chandeliers patterned after the Art Deco decor in Walt Disney’s office. One of the company’s new products: couture soap.
Welcome to Disney, the “lifestyle brand.”
Shoppers may be surprised to learn that these pricey and Mickey-free products are from the same company that foisted Hannah Montana on the world and turned singing Chihuahuas into a cultural touchstone. While some of the items have recognisable characters on them, others contain only winks and nods to the company’s animated movies and theme park rides. And sometimes the only hint of Disney’s involvement is on the label.
Lindsay Bern, a makeup artist for Smashbox Cosmetics, was so delighted with a lavender and silver tote bag she received as a gift from a friend that she started using it immediately. Then, while on an airplane, a flight attendant commented on her Alice in Wonderland bag. “I thought she was crazy until I started looking at it more closely and sure enough, there was a subtle Alice hiding in the design,”
Bern said.
The Disney brand, of course, is one of the most powerful in the world. It connotes quality and creativity, but also carries a strong whiff of mass culture — which often turns the noses of fashionist as skyward. It is difficult for many upscale customers and boutiques to take Disney seriously. Of her bag, Bern said, “I’ll admit it, I liked it better when I didn’t know it was from Disney.”
But Disney has been working hard to improve its image. Starting in 2002, the company tiptoed into high-end retail, seeking out partnerships with designers like Paul Smith, Vivienne Tam and Dolce & Gabbana, who created a $1,400 sequined Mickey Mouse T-shirt. Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products, thought that a smattering of designer clothes featuring Disney characters in fresh ways would gain the attention of fashion-forward shoppers. The goal was to stretch the brand a bit while adding buzz.
Now Mooney is going further, asking people to think of Disney as a brand of luxury clothing, expensive home furnishings and hip jewellery. Lest anyone be confused, the company has created labels to differentiate the new merchandise from what it sells at Disney Stores and theme parks.
The “upscale, high-glam” Disney Couture is primarily for women, while guys have Bloc28, a name that refers to Mickey Mouse’s debut in 1928. The labels, featured in fashion magazines like Vogue and worn by celebrities like Rihanna, are sold only in boutiques and in department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.
From a business perspective, the full-speed push into “noncharacter products” like dining tables and executive fountain pens is a crucial way for Disney to expand its consumer products unit, which is better known for pumping out Power Rangers pajamas and Daisy Duck key chains. Disney says that sales of its home and lifestyle products will total about $85 million in the next 12 months, making up four per cent of the consumer unit’s revenue. Within five years, the company projects the category will deliver $500 million in sales a year.
It is an ambitious plan for a company whose idea of fashion for decades was to attach plastic mouse ears to a beanie. Analysts who follow Disney said the company’s strategy is smart, though the recent downturn in consumer spending may make it difficult to meet those aggressive sales goals and some consumers have noticed a similarity between Disney Couture and Juicy Couture.
Over time, consumers from all quarters are likely to grow familiar with the new designs. In one deal that has yet to be announced, Wal-Mart has hired Disney to take over its children’s bedding department this spring. Disney will supply its normal range of Cars pillowcases and Cinderella sheets, but it will also create four lines of bedding that include no images of Disney characters.
In September, Disney introduced a collection of patio furniture in partnership with Agio. Starting in the spring, consumers will be able to decorate their backyards with outdoor dining sets from the Animal Kingdom Collection. Or they can opt for a martini bar and swivel bar stools from the Grand Floridian Collection — a respite, perhaps, for parents after one too many viewings of Toy Story 2 on DVD. Other new products this fall include $1,200 fountain pens from Monteverde that come in three designs. In the Sleeping Beauty Collection, for example, subtle silver arches around the cap are modelled after the window architecture on the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. The nib is 14-karat gold (of course).
“This is more about feeling the Disney characters than seeing their image,” said Kidada Jones, the former Tommy Hilfiger model (and daughter of Quincy Jones), who teamed with Disney to produce a line of jewellery and accessories.
Brook Barnes