4/19/2013WORLD'S BEST DRESSED ELEPHANT, BABAR, HITS U.S. RETAIL WITH RENOWNED DANISH DESIGN LABEL, SOULLAND
It's a trunk show like no other ! From the City of Light to the Big Apple, the party fit for a king continues for Babar, the globally-famous star of the bestselling children's books and beloved brand, now celebrating its 80th anniversary. Babars vintage style is being made available for today's most fashion-forward set with Babar Meets Soulland, a new menswear collection from renowned young Danish designer and Soulland CEO, Silas Alder. Developed and distributed exclusively through Paris' famed retailer Colette, the irresistible new line is now available for a limited time at select retailers around the world, including Opening Ceremony (New York and Los Angeles) and online at openingceremony.us.
Featuring the vintage illustrations created by Babar author and illustrator Jean de Brunoff, the standout Babar Meets Soulland men's collection is comprised of long and short sleeve button-down shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts and shorts.
I have been a fan of Babar and his universe since I was four years old, so it was a great honor being able to work on this collaboration, said Adler. I was particularly inspired by a story from the first book, where Babar goes to the tailor to get his first suit a bright green suit.
Earlier this month, the line debuted with a high-fashion soiree at Colette in Paris, with the chic store's windows, famous water bar and other in-store promotional activities all honoring the stylish pachyderm. On the tail of its Parisian debut, Babar Meets Soulland is now available at high-end international retailers, including London's Goodhood, Brussels' Hunting & Collecting, Berlin's Soto et Voo and more, in addition to Opening Ceremony's two New York locations and Los Angeles store. To herald the arrival of the new Babar Meets Soulland menswear collection, a Wild Poster campaign from Soulland and Opening Ceremony, featuring eye-catching images touting the line's arrival, is now underway throughout downtown Manhattan.
The new fashion collaboration is the latest activity around the brand's 80th anniversary. Babar celebrated the 2012-2013 holiday season with feature placement in the windows and children's department of Saks Fifth Avenue, a Closing Bell ringing event at the New York Stock Exchange, the debut of an all-new range of vintage-inspired merchandise at specialty stores across North America and a festive take over of Books of Wonder, the largest independent children's book store in New York City. Additional Babar partnerships are expected to be announced soon.
Babar originated in the 1930s as a bedtime story told to Laurent de Brunhoff and his brother by their mother, Cecile, and first came to life through the art of Laurent's father, Jean, a painter, who produced seven books about the character. When Jean passed away at the young age of 37, Laurent, who studied at the same art academy, built on his father's work, creating many lively adventures for the elephant family. A remarkable success story with humble beginnings, today Babar continues to reign as the king of children's literature. The lovable elephant has appeared in more than 100 books in 17 languages as well as multiple TV series and specials and even a feature-length film. Over 42 Babar titles have been published to date with more than 10.1 million copies sold in the U.S. alone.
The Babar brand is managed by Nelvana Enterprises, in collaboration with The Clifford Ross Company.
About Nelvana
Founded in 1971 as a small independent studio, Nelvana is now one of the worlds leading international producers and distributors of children's animated and live-action content and is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. Nelvana is comprised of the Nelvana Studio and Nelvana Enterprises. The Nelvana Studio operates out of a state-of-the-art digital animation production facility in Toronto. Nelvana's library now has well over 3,800 half-hour animated episodes including such well-known properties as Mike the Knight, Babar, Franklin, Max & Ruby, The Backyardigans, Sidekick, Scaredy Squirrel, and live action shows such as Life With Boys. Nelvana's content has aired in over 160 countries and has received over 70 major international program awards including Emmys and Geminis. Nelvana Enterprises distributes programming from the Nelvana Studio and key creative partners to broadcasters, home entertainment and digital distribution partners the world over. Its merchandise licensing team manages consumer products licensing globally, including home entertainment and interactive. For more information visit www.nelvana.com
About The Clifford Ross Company
Founded in 1985 by artist/photographer Clifford Ross, The Clifford Ross Company focused on three classic properties during its early years: the works of Edward Gorey, Tom Swift and Babar. After optioning the rights to Babar in 1986 directly from Laurent de Brunhoff and the de Brunhoff family, CRC entered into a working relationship with Nelvana on all aspects of the property. For over 20 years, the companies have worked together producing both television and feature-length movies featuring the Babar characters and developing a worldwide licensing program. Ross recently completed Harmonium Mountain, an animated, computer-generated landscape video, with an original score by Philip Glass, which was an original selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. He is currently working on the completion of a stained glass wall for the new United States Federal Courthouse in Austin, Texas.
About Soulland
Soulland is a Copenhagen-based menswear company founded by head designer Silas Adler (b. 1985) in 2002. The other face of Soulland is co-owner Jacob Kampp Berliner, CEO and head of sales. S
