Strategy December 19, 2018
Trend Alert 2019: Cannabis Merch
A new branded apparel collection from a popular cannabis culture website is one bellwether of the category’s potential popularity.
The market for logoed cannabis wear and marijuana-inspired branded merchandise from musicians, celebrities, fashion designers, social media influencers and certain brands appears poised to take off in 2019.
One recent example: Merry Jane has released a line of branded swag just in time for the holidays. For the collection, the cannabis news and culture website teamed up with artist Heather Benjamin and Everybody.World, a company founded by two American Apparel alums that offers apparel basics and lifestyle-goods.
Available from Everybody.World, the unisex collection features a long sleeve T-Shirt made from 100% recycled cotton (above image), a black pocket tee, and a pink oversized hoodie, also made from 100% cotton. Knowing its audience, Merry Jane additionally serves up a branded “stash pouch” and a “tokin’ tote” – billed as “perfect for on-the-go blazing.”
Stash Pouch from the Merry Jane x Heather Benjamin collaboration.
Tokin’ Tote and hoodie from the Merry Jane x Heather Benjamin collaboration.
Pocket tee from the Merry Jane x Heather Benjamin collaboration.
As far as some branding and fashion experts are concerned, the collection is just one bellwether of a likely trend for next year: The proliferation of marijuana merch. In a fascinating article focused on 2019 branded swag predictions, Fashionista named “cannabis culture merch” as one of its top six merch trends for next year. As another example of the growing momentum, Fashionista points to a limited-edition collection Highsnobiety released in collaboration with The Elder Statesman to help hype the launch of its documentary “High End: The Regalization of Cannabis.”
It’s also a good chance marijuana-themed elements will carry over into the worlds of fashion and music merchandise, and appear in logoed offerings from a growing number of brands across industries that feel it’s in their best interest to align themselves with a pro-cannabis aesthetic, given their particular audiences.
Certainly, the fashion world is jumping in. “We've already seen a number of designers look to weed for inspiration, including Vetements, Alexander Wang, Jacquie Aiche and Palm Angels, but as the legalization of cannabis — and the multi-billion industry along with it — grows within the U.S., chances are we'll see many more apparel brands pushing the stoner aesthetic forward,” writes Maria Bobila, senior associate editor at Fashionista.
Obviously, merch thrives where there’s money, and cash is pouring into cannabis. Consider: Recently, big tobacco player Altria bought a 45% stake in cannabis company Cronos Group for about $1.8 billion. In terms of dollars, the deal was second only in the cannabis world to Fortune 500 adult beverage company Constellation Brands’ $4 billion investment in Canopy Growth, a Canada-based cannabis company.
With dollars like that flooding in and more people and politicians than ever before openly advocating for the legalization of cannabis in the United States, we think it’s a fair bet that there will be ample opportunity for promotional products distributors in 2019 and beyond. So, don’t wait. Start exploring opportunities and establishing strong relationships in an emerging market that’s likely to be riding high for years to come.