FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has secured multiple licensees across Europe for the fashion led Japanese graphic property, Rebecca Bonbon. These deals mark the first of their kind in the respective territories as the brand continues to gather momentum and break into more categories.

French licensee Leomil will be developing an apparel collection to include shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, shorts, pyjamas and swimwear. Additionally, Leomil’s footwear division, based in Belgium, will be producing branded slippers, flip flops, sneakers, boots and rain boots. Both the footwear and clothing collections are aimed at children from 6-12 and will be launched in 2011 in apparel, jeanswear and footwear chain stores.

In the UK, lingerie and hosiery company J-Fox Sox will be developing a range of Rebecca Bonbon socks, nightwear, underwear and t-shirts. The collection will launch in high street retail outlets in the UK in April 2010. Similarly, Italian clothing company Manifatture Zotti have just signed a deal with FME to produce girls’ and women’s t-shirts and sweatshirts to launch for Summer 2010. These will be the first Rebecca Bonbon products to hit the Italian market. CTI, the bed linen specialist company, snapped up the property rights and will launch a range of Rebecca Bonbon branded duvets, cushions and throws. They already work with some of the leading brands and character licenses including Hello Kitty, Le Petit Prince, Pucca and Barnie. The products are in development for a Q3 2010 launch, and will be available across France, Benelux and Scandinavia. German company Reinders Posters have signed up to produce branded posters, greetings cards and skins for electrical devices. From Spring 2010 the products will be available through major European retailers across Germany, France, Benelux, UK, Spain, Italy and the Nordics. Considered leaders in their sector, Reinders continue to work with other major licences including Spiderman, The Simpsons, Transformers, Looney Tunes and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Pindy O’Brien, VP Brand Licensing & Retail Licensing UK, Diana Dieckmann VP Licensing, Germany & Eastern, Central, Southern Europe, Nathalie Delin, VP Licensing, France and Claire Baker, VP Licensing, Nordic & Mediterranean Europe, Russian Federation, Middle East, Africa brokered the UK, Germany, France and Italy deals respectively.

In addition to these new licensees, Rebecca Bonbon now also has an official website. Developed by BAFTA-winning digital agency Fish in a Bottle, the website (www.rebeccabonbon.com) is currently targeted at international trade visitors and includes background on the brand, product information and press coverage. As Rebecca Bonbon products continue to hit retail and make waves in the consumer space, the website will become more consumer-facing: a place where fans can come together and read about Rebecca Bonbon and her stories and adventures as well as discovering future products in the pipeline.

Rebecca Bonbon, created by Hello Kitty designer Yuko Shimizu, is becoming one of the fastest-growing international fashion licences. It has already proven a major hit in Japan with over 50 licensees and thousands of products across a range of categories. Existing European licensees include French company Alpa who are producing more than 60,000 branded products; German company Trend Import and UK stationery company Blueprint. Blueprint’s Rebecca Bonbon range includes notebooks, binders and pencil cases and will be launching in August in WH Smiths and Claire’s Accessories amongst others. FME acquired rights to the brand from Crown Creative and represents the brand globally (excluding Japan, Korea and China).