Kitson Finds Gold in Cartoon Characters, Announces New Kids Store
Kitson built its reputation as one of the boutiques favored by celebrities on Los Angeles’ Robertson Boulevard. But in the past year, owner Fraser Ross has found success in cartoon characters.
On May 10, he debuted a campaign based on Warner Bros. character Tweety Bird at a store gala attended by celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Quincy Jones and Warner Bros. President Alan Horn. Ross forecast Kitson will earn more than $200,000 the first month it sells accessories and apparel bearing the image of the iconic cartoon canary.
Last year, Kitson partnered with film studio Miramax to launch clothes for comic book heroines Betty and Veronica and garnered more than $100,000 the first month it sold the T-shirts and cashmere sweaters. Later in 2004, the store sold clothes bearing the image of Peter Pan’s sidekick, Tinkerbell.
The Tweety deal started in December 2004, when Ross said Warner Bros. asked him to help assemble a merchandising campaign for the character. More than 12 vendors manufactured clothes for the effort. Raw 7 contributed a cashmere Tweety sweater ($395), Joystick offered an embroidered Tweety blazer ($295) and Junk Food presented T-shirts ($28). Other vendors included Cake Couture, LL Bean and Madeline Beth.
Ross secured exclusive rights to use the Tweety images on contemporary fashion. He held exclusive rights to sell Betty and Veronica clothes for three months, and Kitson will be the only boutique on the West Coast to sell Tweety apparel made by vendors such as Raw 7 for the rest of the year.
“I learned you have to control the market more,” Ross said of his ventures into cartoon merchandising. “Get rights for exclusivity as long as you can.”
Ross also announced that he will be opening a new store, Kitson Kids, at 108 S. Robertson Blvd. in July. The 1,500-square-foot store will sell high-end casual clothes for children up to 12 years old. Labels will include Great China Wall, Stitches, Antik Denim and Primp. —Andrew Asch
