This past season, the men’s first team at Forest Green Rovers – recognised as the most sustainable club upon the British footballing landscape – has been sporting a collection of co-branded travel wear not only in tune with the planet but with the sounds and general sensibilities of the iconic psychedelic rock outfit, The Grateful Dead.
Brought together by WMX, the retail and merchandising arm at Warner Music Group, the collection (featuring hoodies and stylish t-shirts) was produced by I Dress Myself, a carbon-negative, vegan clothing business specialising in sustainable printing, and all developed under a shared passion for protecting the environment.
Upon its launch, the collection embodied the chance to not only engage sports fans and music fans alike with the topic of sustainability but, according to Dale Vince – chairman of Forest Green Rovers, founder of the renewable energy business ecotricity, and revered industry activist – to “take fans around the world on the journey with us.”
Sharing a “common goal to make the planet a cleaner, greener place” the dynamic partnership between Grateful Dead, Forest Green Rovers, and the team at I Dress Myself was launched with the aim to place conscientious product directly in the hands of the fans. In doing so, it presents a bold new approach to brand licensing and the strides that can be made when the principles of planet-first purpose align.
It stands to reason then, that the collection finds itself among a line-up of pioneering partnerships to have made the shortlist for this year’s Licensing Awards’ Best Sustainable Product category and why – when the doors open on Brand Licensing Europe 2024 later this month – items from across the collection will be proudly displayed within Products of Change’s own ‘industry innovation showcase.’
“Since 1965, the Grateful Dead have always had the environment at the heart of their story. This has evolved over the years to be reflected in their licensing programme and evident with their choice of partnerships looking at methods of being truly sustainable,” says Alex Mitchell, licensing and record retail account director at WMX.
“This can vary from tree-planting to making use of fully recycled plastics in their products.”
A good example of this in action – outside of the group’s partnership with Forest Green Rovers, of course – is another recent collaboration with Gotham Greens, a project dealing with locally cultivated fresh food grown under strict environmental considerations. This project was itself supplemented with a ‘one-for-one’ tree-planting programme.
The relationship between music and the environmental has – generally speaking – forever been a strong and passionate one, carried across the live music and festival scene throughout the ages and often perpetuated by musicians and artists themselves. Now, with strides being made in the way bands and artists can approach their merchandising efforts, it’s become a message now with the ability to reach audiences beyond the music alone.
“Musicians by their very nature are often extremely passionate about the environment,” says Alex. “You only have to look at festivals like Glastonbury to see it has always been an important message. You can listen to song lyrics, watch interviews, look at the artwork to understand the deep impression the environment has upon their art. It’s therefore something that has to continue through the artist merchandise.”
A recognised leader in their field of product development with reduced environmental impact, the clothing specialist I Dress Myself boasts an enviable client list including LUSH, Cannondale, Neal’s Yard, Friends of the Earth, Eden Project, and more. It was the first screen printers in the UK to exclusively use 100% solvent-free water-based inks for its garment printing all the way back in 2006 and the first to develop a plastic-free embroidery service using Lyocell top thread and wood pulp.
At the same time, the vegan business uses only organic cotton within its products and calculates its carbon emissions all the way through its supply chain – as well as across its operations – right up until the point at which its garments arrive at its clients. I Dress Myself then offsets these emissions, plus an additional 10% to be confident it is a ‘carbon negative business’.
What’s more, in the name of circularity and reuse for its textiles, the team partners with a local crafting group to ensure that any misprinted garments are put to good use.
On these credentials alone, Alex spotted that I Dress Myself was “the perfect fit” for a collaboration bringing together such names synonymous with the environment as Grateful Dead and Forest Green Rovers. As he says, it was a connection that was “obvious from the start.”
“For a long time, I have seen the great work Forest Green Rovers has been doing with their brand messaging around sustainability,” he explains. “Grateful Dead is a Rhino and WMX artist under the Warner Music Group, and we have an amazing programme… but at the forefront of this was sustainability.
“This partnership wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last in WMX’s approach to sustainability in licensing and merchandising overall. It’s genuinely at the heart of the consideration to take any deal forward, right alongside the creative and commercial reasons. We’re finding artists simply won’t entertain deals that don’t have sustainability at the centre of the project.”
The list of artists playing a more leading role in the sustainability credentials of their licensed merchandise programmes is growing rapidly, with names like Billie Eilish and Coldplay making headlines for their pioneering approaches to industry progression. However, just as strong in their demands are the consumers now growing more conscientious and discerning with where they place their money.
“It is important to musicians, and therefore it’s an important part of their merchandising programmes,” says Alex. “But it’s also an unavoidable requirement from both retailers and consumers alike. For Grateful Dead, they will be celebrating their 60th anniversary in 2025 and at the heart of that campaign will be their continued messaging around sustainability. We hope to be announcing some key initiatives all centred on that core value very soon.”
To see the Grateful Dead x Forest Green Rovers collection from I Dress Myself in the flesh, be sure to visit the Products of Change booth A265 this Brand Licensing Europe.
