We’ve wrapped up our favorite licensing collaborations from the past decade in preparation for what’s coming in 2020!

Today, cross-brand collaborations are at the height of all product promotion and brand awareness, and this trend isn’t stopping any time soon. From 2010-2019, we’ve noticed the impact and growth of strategic brand collaborations between everyone’s favorite products and how it affects the image and cause of those brands. Here are our top ten licensing collaborations that stood out to us this past decade.

Versace x H&M

Mixing a world-renowned Italian designer and fast fashion: who would’ve thought? After teasing the fashion community with leaked campaign photos of the collaboration for months, Versace and H&M finally released the collection around November 2011 with a multitude of colorful pieces sold at an affordable price. Ranging from costume jewelry to home goods, Versace’s goal to reach a wider audience was achieved with this successful launch.

Yeezy x Adidas

Since partnering with Adidas in 2015, Kanye West launched his Yeezy footwear and apparel to the masses and soon became one of the most influential streetwear brands today. The intense social media hype by Kanye and the intertwining of art and pop culture led to the success of the Yeezy brand. With seven seasons already released, sneaker and pop culture fanatics contribute to the immense sales of around $1.5 billion each year.

Supreme x Louis Vuitton

Street wear, but make it high fashion. Supreme and Louis Vuitton embodied this statement best with the release of their game-changing clothing line in 2017. Louis Vuitton rarely has a collaboration that could potentially alter their globally-known monogram, but after partnering with Supreme, their collection can still be seen on many celebrities today. You can still find most pieces being resold online at extreme prices for collectors to buy.

Cardi B x Fashion Nova

Cardi B, with her famous hit, “Bodak Yellow,” launched her first clothing line with Fashion Nova back in November 2018. Designed for fans to emulate her style, Cardi B’s Fashion Nova line was so successful that her Season 2 release reached around one million dollars in sales within one day. I guess she was right when she said, “I’m worth every dollar.”

Toyota x Subaru

This unlikely automotive duo issued a press release on their alliance mid-2019 with their collaboration to develop the next-generation Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. And not only are they gearing up for a new fleet of vehicles, but they also revealed capital ties with an increase in shares in each other’s company. With this collaboration, Toyota and Subaru are definitely testing the limits of innovation and expansion within the automotive industry.

Hermes x Apple

Hermes x Apple Watch seamlessly collided tech with luxury goods in 2019. Their collaboration allowed both brands to combine their “parallel thinking and shared values” into a new range of cases, bands, and digital watch faces for customers looking to take their tech to the next level.

Taco Bell x Doritos

Whoever thought of making a hard shell taco out of a Doritos chip gave us something we never thought we needed. Since its launch in 2012, Taco Bell was able to satisfy over 450 million late night cravings with its reinvention of the hard shell taco. Now, it has become a staple in the Taco Bell menu and we don’t think it’s disappearing any time soon.

HRC x J.Crew and Madewell

The Human Rights Campaign partnered with J.Crew and Madewell to release a line of apparel and accessories in support of Pride month in 2018. With the goal of fighting for LGBTQ+ equality, HRC was determined to spread awareness with shirts, socks, and totes saying, “Love first.” in bold and bright colors.

GoPro x Red Bull

With their shared values of story-telling and achieving the unachievable, GoPro and Red Bell joined forces in 2016 in order to expand their global reach and showcase their capabilities for their dare-devil customers. This was definitely not a surprise on our end as both companies promote their products in appreciation of extreme sports.

Levi’s x Pinterest

In 2018, Levi’s and Pinterest joined forces to curate endless outfits for Pinterest users on a global scale. Pinterest started promoting “Styled by Levi’s®” which takes user activity and turns it into a Pinterest board featuring clothing from Levi’s. This allows the user to find items they can purchase and see how it’s styled to match what they like. This gave Levi’s a huge opportunity to personally style potential customers without human interaction.

With all of the amazing collaborations we’ve seen, it leaves us hungry for more! In 2020, we’re expecting innovative advancements in every industry through thoughtful licensing collaborations from top brands. And just a reminder: Brainbase is here to help brands manage all of their licensing assets in order to generate top performing, bold collaborations for consumers like the ones we’ve seen this past decade. Who’s with us? Share your thoughts!

Image Sources: 

Versace x HM: https://www.popsugar.com/fashion/Versace-HM-Full-Collection-Pictures-20084678

Yeezy x Adidas: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-kanye-west-made-yeezy-brand-a-success-2018-4

Supreme x Louis Vuitton: https://stockx.com/news/supreme-x-louis-vuitton-kim-jones/

Cardi B x Fashion Nova: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cardi-b-fashion-nova-collection-million-launch

Toyota x Subaru: https://www.motor1.com/news/373218/toyota-subaru-confirm-86-brz/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-27/toyota-raising-stake-in-subaru-to-at-least-20-nikkei-reports

Hermes x Apple:
https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-hermes/

Taco Bell x Doritos:
https://www.fastcompany.com/3008346/deep-inside-taco-bells-doritos-locos-taco

HRC x J.Crew and Madewell: https://www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-and-j.crew-group-inc.-partner-to-support-lgbtq-equality

GoPro x Red Bull:
https://gopro.com/en/us/news/gopro-and-red-bull-form-exclusive-global-partnership

Levi’s x Pinterest: https://www.levistrauss.com/2018/12/14/styled-levis-new-pinterest-partnership/