Polarn O. Pyret, Rights & Brands, Astrid Lindgren Company and Design Ilon Wikland AB now present a unique collaboration of children’s clothing with illustrations by Ilon Wikland. The new, limited winter collection uses illustrations from Astrid Lindgren’s stories about The Children of Noisy Village (Barnen i Bullerbyn) and Lotta on Troublemaker Street (Lotta på Bråkmakargatan).
For over 40 years, Polarn O. Pyret have specialized in making the highest quality, organic, unisex clothing for babies & kids. This new collaboration with Astrid Lindgren & Ilon Wikland will be presented in two collections – the first one launched this autumn, 2022, and the next one for spring 2023.
This new collection consists of children’s clothing in the form of nightwear, sweatshirts, dresses and leggings in sizes from baby to older children and pajamas for adults. The winter collection is presented with classic Christmas illustrations from the books Jul i Bullerbyn and Lotta på Bråkmakargatan, stories that create a nostalgic Christmas feeling. Through the collaboration, Polarn O. Pyret wants to encourage children and adults to take the time to read more and explore the world of fairytales.
“Through Astrid Lindgren’s stories and Ilon Wiklands illustrations we want encourage parents and granparents to take their time and sit down and read for their children. We also hope to be able to increase children’s interest and desire to read by drawing attention to storytelling, says Heli Fleetwood, Marketing Director at Polarn O. Pyret.
The work with the collection started in 2021 and had an intense start as the illustrations weren’t adapted for textile production at that time, something that proved to be very time consuming and a challenge for the design team at Polarn O. Pyret.
Started collaborating in 1953
Ilon Wikland was born in Estonia in 1930 and came to Sweden as a refugee in 1944. Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland started their collaboration in 1953, when Ilon was asked to do sketches for the book Mio, My Son That resulted in a long collaboration over many years. Ilon Wikland illustrated most of Astrid Lindgren’s stories, including The Brothers Lionheart, Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, Madicken and Lotta on Troublemaker Street.
Ilon Wikland has said that Astrid wrote in a way that made her see the images before her. She also drew a lot of inspiration from real life, several of her characters are based her own daughters and Karlsson on the Roof was inspired by a man that she saw in Les Halles in Paris.
“The stories of Astrid Lindgren and illustrations by Ilon Wikland has been a dream collaboration for us for a long time. We are so proud to have the trust to make the first children’s collection ever with these illustrations.” says Martina Wernemar, assortment manager at Polarn O. Pyret says.
The winter collection is launched on October 27th and will be available in all Polarn O. Pyret stores, and online at polarnopyret.se
Interested in a licensing collaboration with Astrid Lindgren and Ilon Wikland? Hit us with your idea by sending an e-mail to licensing@rightsandbrands.com