ACCESSORIES FIT FOR AN ICON
In France, where James Dean competes only with Marilyn Monroe for the unofficial title of “Most Popular American Icon,” a fan can now own an official James Dean umbrella or an official James Dean table lamp. A Canadian fan can don an official James Dean nightshirt, while his Australian counterpart might adjust his official James Dean sunglasses.
The public’s love affair with James Dean, according to Mark Roesler, president of Curtis Licensing Corp., is international--and so is the licensing. The following is a partial list of manufacturers who have jumped aboard the James Dean express:
Schott Bros., New Jersey-based outerwear company. It made the leather motorcycle jacket Dean wore in the ‘50s. In the James Dean Collection is a stitch-for-stitch replica of that jacket, as well as a copy of the fringed jacket he wore in “Giant” and three other related pieces.
Stetson. There are eight hats in its line of James Dean hats. Top-of-the-line is a 5X-quality beaver hat that costs $150 and is a reproduction of the one Dean wore in “Giant.”
Shady Character Ltd. Its James Dean Eyewear Collection is based on a frame just like Dean used to wear. The $32 frame comes in 10 colors, and although co-owner Steve Abrams declines to give figures, he started shipping them to stores in May and has been shipping them continuously since then. “All it is is marketing and cult worship,” he says.
Determined Prods., San Francisco-based. It has the James Dean market cornered with a line of T-shirts, nightshirts and sweat shirts. When Curtis Licensing Vice President Greg Thomas got wind of a T-shirt infringer in Los Angeles, he stormed down to the Venice Beach boardwalk and issued his cease-and-desist order--in person.
Hallmark Cards. Ready? James Dean posters, buttons, satin pillows, puzzles, greeting cards, 1986 calendars and post cards are being churned out of this company’s Kansas City headquarters.
One Stop Posters. Michael Malm, director of sales for this Monterey Park company, said “kids will invest in a frame for their James Dean poster. Rambo, they just put up with tape.” One Stop has sold 175,000 copies of its $3.50 black-and-white poster of Dean on his motorcycle in five months, compared to what he predicts will be a million of Rambo for the year. “But Rambo is only hot for six months. James Dean is a part of history--like John Wayne.”
