Movie merch has become an integral part of both film and brand strategies. Here’s how to avoid oversaturation — and which films to bookmark.
The Wuthering Heights press tour, for which Margot Robbie has returned to method-dressing mode, is near impossible to escape. Images of Robbie in looks from archival John Galliano to custom Dilara Findikoglu, often gazing up at co-star Jacob Elordi, himself in custom Bottega Veneta, have been crowding our social feeds for weeks, well ahead of the film’s February 13 release.
It’s great press for the film, and almost just as good for the brands, which have been claiming a stake in the Wuthering Heights fervor. Warner Bros. collaborated with 35 brand partners on Wuthering Heights-branded products, from Hanky Panky thongs to Lingua Franca sweaters, offering consumers a means of buying into the movie hype before it even hit theaters. It’s not just Wuthering Heights. Last month, after the Marty Supreme cast went viral in branded Nahmias jackets, the cast of The Moment — and friends of star and creator Charli XCX — took to Sundance Film Festival bundled up from the Utah cold in The Moment-branded puffer coats. These days, it’s rare to see a big film release without associated branded products. Merch is now an expectation even for indie film studios, who are approaching it in a more modern way, says Katie Devlin, fashion trends editor at intelligence agency Stylus. “The fact is that demand for on-screen tie-ins is there whether the film studios get in on the action or not — and if they don’t, someone on Etsy likely already has,” she says. For studios and brands, this baked-in demand marks a missed opportunity if they don’t release some form of product for movie fans to buy into. For Warner Bros., Barbie was the inflection point. “Partnerships have always played a role in movie marketing, but the last few years have changed expectations. Audiences don’t just want to see a film — they want to experience its world,” says Dana Nussbaum, co-president of worldwide marketing for Warner Bros. These days, Warner tends to start conversations with brands over a year out from a film’s release — and brand collabs are no longer bound by genre or ratings. “Five years ago, it would have been rare to see an R‑rated film supported this way. That’s changed,” Nussbaum says, pointing to films from Sinners to Wuthering Heights. If every movie stands to benefit from associated merch — which is evolving from a nice-to-have to a necessity — how can studios and brands best tackle what can easily slip from world-builder to gimmicky ad? Build out the world The first requirement for getting movie merch right? Aligning with the film’s universe. Products don’t simply have to be branded with a film’s logo or title, experts say. Strategically-intelligent movie merch goes beyond publicizing the film, says Beth Bentley, founder of brand consultancy Tomorrowism. “It expands the movie’s cinematic world, creating new surfaces and contexts for the movie’s ideas and characters to live within, and invites fans to inhabit that world,” she says. Fans don’t want to be walking billboards, Devlin agrees: they want to participate in a film’s universe. Lingua Franca offers both branded and more subtle cues with its Wuthering Heights line of sweaters: one offering with the film’s title on it, alongside a host of other styles featuring quotes from the book and movie. Tapping into this film felt like a no-brainer for the team, says co-founder Rachelle Hruska. “At Lingua Franca, we’ve always been drawn to literary themes and storytelling, and this novel has such emotional weight and cultural resonance,” she says. “It feels like one of those moments where fashion, literature, and culture really click, which is very LF.” Moving forward, there’s untapped potential in movie merch that isn’t really merch at all, Devlin says. “Especially for fashion and beauty brands, there’s huge — and as of now, largely undertapped — potential as the line between merch and cosplay becomes increasingly blurred,” she says. “While licensed tees and sweatshirts remain an integral part of any film merch offering, there’s a growing subset of fans who want more, and are actively seeking out method dressing-inspired pieces that allow them to be further immersed into these worlds in their everyday lives.” Intimacy brand Maude is getting at this through its Wuthering Heights collab, an Come Undone kit, which includes an oil, a candle and a movie poster. It’s a clear attempt to tap into the film’s themes of lust and yearning. “Wuthering Heights is an atmospheric story rooted in feeling, restraint, and emotional tension,” founder and CEO Éva Goicochea says of the film. “The opportunity was to translate that atmosphere off-screen and onto the body in a way that felt thoughtful, immersive, and true to the film.” Goicochea views scent as a way to extend the Wuthering Heights story beyond the screen, and closely eyed those who worked on the film to achieve this. “We looked closely at the vision of Suzie Davies, the production designer, and Charlotte Dirickx, the set decorator, and asked how that world might live on the body,” Goicochea says. “The result needed to feel restrained, intimate, and lived-in rather than literal or decorative.” Get in early The purpose of movie merch has shifted, experts say. Whereas movie products are typically timed to or in the wake of a film’s release, studios and brands are cottoning onto the fact that these products can be used to drum up hype, much like a press tour. “Marty Supreme has spearheaded a shift whereby movie merch offerings act not just as souvenir collectables after the fact, but as bonafide marketing tools and hype-drivers,” Stylus’s Devlin says. This go-early, pre-release model is rooted in music, Bentley adds. “Think of Charli XCX’s Brat rollout… the lime green became a recognized cultural signifier long before most people had actually heard the whole album,” she says. This can offer a successful model for film merch, as was made abundantly clear by the lines around the block for Marty Supreme’s Nahmias jacket. “You’re not just buying the tee or the keychain, you’re buying the cultural capital associated with being early to something that matters,” Bentley says. “Product partnerships of that kind are mutually beneficial to both parties.” Embracing this strategy means brands should get in on the action earlier. In the year ahead, there are plenty of films worth taking note of — so long as brands can create something additive. A24’s The Drama with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson is sure to offer up some notable merch moments in the lead up to April, as is the studio’s Mother Mary, out this spring starring Anne Hathaway as an iconic pop star. Later in the year, brands will have plenty of existing IP to work with, from Christopher Nolan’s take on The Odyssey, to Georgia Oakley’s Sense and Sensibility starring Daisy Edgar-Jones. For any Warner films, though, brands may already be too late — start looking to 2027. More from this author: Breaking Down Fashion’s Biggest Super Bowl Yet Ralph Lauren Sales Spike 10%, Raising Expectations Is Fashion Getting Political Again?
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