Miffy’s creator Dick Bruna was born on the 23rd of August in 1927 ‘Year of the Rabbit’ which in hindsight was a curious coincidence. From humble begins dating back to 1955 his book based bunny Miffy has evolved into the icon we know today.
Friendship, curiosity, uncomplicated fun and focus on essence are the cornerstones of Miffy’s world and continue to resonate with people from all ages and walks of life.
“Colour your World with Miffy” not only refers to the colour palette used in Miffy’s original books but is a much more inclusive call to embrace the colour of our world in a broader sense.
Miffy’s world is about the uniqueness of each and every individual and leaving room for the imagination. The element of surprise and differences are embraced without compromising on quality whilst still making it accessible to all.
Australia and New Zealand have embraced Dick Bruna’s work since the 70’s and continue to support the program through long-term Media, Publishing and Licensing partnerships.
The first major Miffy exhibition recently visited, with some delay due to covid, Brisbane’s QUT Art Museum and Melbourne’s Bunjil Place Gallery. It evolved around concepts that Bruna and other artists have grappled with over the ages, including colour, line and form. Bringing these ideas to audiences and to instil a love of art, as Bruna did over his lifetime, was done in collaboration with seven contemporary Australian artists.
Both long-term partners The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Children’s publisher Hardy Grant continue to broadcast the television series and re-issue new book formats in combination with Dick Bruna’s original square book titles respectively.
Categories like plush, gifting and lifestyle are firmly established through collaborations with Jasnor and Rhino Rhino with extensions into other categories like gifting and flowers with Interflora Australia.
The recent partnership with Erstwilder has seen the creation of a collection of wearable art for anyone with a leaning towards nostalgia, adventure, and the innocence of their youth which nicely compliments the Miffy X Sarsparilly collection. This retro style collection is an expression and call to “Wear Your True Colours” which aligns with Miffy’s overarching colour your world theme.
DTR partnerships are an indispensable part of our efforts to share Miffy with as many people as possible and our collaborations with Peter Alexander and Cotton On over the last few years have seen multiple launches of well-coordinated male, female, baby, toddler, kids and adult Miffy collections. Not only do these collections perform well in their home territories but they also resonate well in Asia and Southern-Africa.
Cotton On will be launching another capsule collection available in multiple territories and supported by a dedicated social media campaign from March 2023.
Our global brand collaborations with Tommy Hilfiger and Mulberry are also leaving a big footprint through their physical and online stores where the Miffy limited edition collections have been made available.
This article originally appeared in The Bugg Report Magazine Edition 43
