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WARHOL LICENSING MANIA
In a recent study of licensing income, Forbes magazine reported that the estate of Andy Warhol raked in $16 million in 2005, making the ‘60s art superstar the magazine’s number four "top-earning dead person," right behind Elvis Presley ($45 million), Charles M. Schultz ($35 million) and John Lennon ($22 million), and beating out Dr. Seuss ($10 million), as well as Warhol subjects Marlon Brando ($9 million) and Marilyn Monroe ($8 million). But the real news in the 2005 list is the arrival of Warhol, a new development (the other lucrative dead people were already solidly at the top of a similar 2004 Forbes round-up). So, what accounts for Andy’s sudden rise?
A Warhol licensing bonanza, that’s what. The Andy Warhol Foundation agreement with the Beanstock Group -- a marketing corporation that has masterminded licenses for the Mary Kate and Ashley Olson clothing empire, among others -- started to pay off big last year. Already in 2003, the group won the Licensing Industry Merchandiser’s Association’s "Best Corporate Brand License of the Year" award for its Andy Warhol licensing program, and now one can see why. Current or future Warhol product news includes:
* The new "Warhol Factory X Levi's collection," a collection of men’s and women’s jeans, tops, sweaters and jackets, embellished with dollar sign, Marilyn Monroe, Mao and other imagery ($190-$250 for jeans; $80-$300 for tops) -- set to debut in spring 2006 in the U.S. and Canada.
* A number of gift-shop-type products from the New York-based company Loop, including paper weights ($16 each): bags -- in tote, messenger, DJ, hobo and satchel styles -- featuring flowers, Campbell’s soup designs and more ($26.40-$55); and Elvis and Chairman Mao-themed sleep masks ($11).
* European designer Joao Tovar’s "All Is Andy Warhol" line, on sale across Europe (to see images of some of the clothes featured on an Italian TV show, click here). Tovar’s fashion house, Cultura, is also pushing a CD called Andy Warhol by Cultura, with 25 tracks from the likes of Air, Faultline, Massive Attack, Moby and Unkle.
* Wallets stamped with the Velvet Underground banana, as well as bags using early Warhol ice cream and butterfly motifs, all branded with Warhol’s signature, from Paul Frank Industries, currently available at stores in the U.S. and Europe.
* London designer Philip Treacy’s 2004 line of "Warhol Hats," assorted varieties of beanies, ball caps and fedoras, made from material that features images of famous celebrities as well as Warhol’s late-career camouflage are still available at www.philiptreacy.co.uk, along with a line of bags, including a Campbell’s soup can-shaped clutch.
* Stationary and other items from San Francisco’s Chronicle Books, including an "Andy Warhol Men" silver foil address book, with a cover featuring a silk-screened image of a male bottom ($12.95), the "Pop Box" kit offering "exact reproductions of fascinating ephemera from the Factory years and beyond" ($24.95) and the "Warhol Idea Book," a sketch pad replete with quotes and illustrations ($18.95).
* A 2004 deal with Corbis makes the company exclusive licensor of digital Warhol artwork. The Seattle-based company offers some 500 Warhol images on its website for use by publishers and advertisers -- for a minimum of about $10,000 a pop, according to a company rep.
* Finally -- not a Beanstock licensee, but nevertheless doing its part to build Warholmania -- there’s Factory Girl, the George Hickenlooper-directed movie, currently in post-production, about the relationship between Sienna Miller’s Edie Sedgewick and Guy Pearce’s Andy. The film is such a hot property that it recently prompted a lawsuit by Sony against the Weinstein Company , claiming that it had been cheated out of distribution rights.