Big Bird Joins Up With American Apparel
Bert and Ernie and the crew are finding a new home: on T-shirts made by American Apparel.
“Sesame Street,” the long-running TV show for children, has partnered with Los Angeles–based American Apparel to make a limited-edition line of T-shirts that will be sold at 25 American Apparel stores around the world.
American Apparel said it was approached earlier this year by “Sesame Street” executives about the venture.
“Sesame Street,” which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, presented the entire catalog of show graphics to American Apparel designers and artists. “We sat down and went through eight discs of artwork from the ’Sesame Street’ archive and picked the ones we responded to the most,” said Carolina Crespo, an American Apparel graphic designer. “It took almost two months, but the end result is a cast of characters and images that bring a modern feel to ’Sesame Street’ and a heritage to American Apparel.”
Drawings of various “Sesame Street” characters were translated into line drawings and printed on brightly colored American Apparel T-shirts.
The line is expected to be released this month online and in American Apparel stores, which comes in time for the relaunch of the American Apparel childrenswear line.
The line could be a nice boost for American Apparel’s revenues. The apparel company recently announced that it had lowered its fiscal 2009 net sales outlook to a range of $540 million to $555 million from $550 million to $575 million. Operating income, or earnings before interests and taxes, is expected to range from $25 million to $30 million. The company expects a net loss of $1 million to a net income of $4 million. —Deborah Belgum
