New York NY —   David Gormley the founder of Zephyr Headwear, and creator of the Tokyodachi brand, with over 500 characters including anime versions of many top collegiate mascots and anime collections based on dozens of other themes and activities, is proud to announce the selection of The Brand Liaison to lead expansion of the Tokyodachi brand through licensing and strategic collaborations.

Building upon the Tokyodachi brand’s success in the collegiate world, The Brand Liaison will expand the existing characters to a wide range of consumer products, including accessories, backpacks, plush, figurines, collectables, and NFT’s as well as seek strategic collaborations for in-bound licenses such as music icons, celebrities and other characters suitable for anime avatars.

“Having lived in Japan I was always enamored with the families of characters that represent every part of Japanese culture. Tokyodachi gives America its own family of characters that resonate with consumers of all ages. Since our first photo shoot in Tokyo and our Launch party in Las Vegas in 2018 the brand has met with enormous success.”  Stated David Gormley, the creator of Tokyodachi and the founder of Zephyr headwear.   “The greatest satisfaction has been that Tokyodachi have been equally accepted by every demographic and interests. They are part emoji, part anime, part sports, part gaming, funny, passionate, and very determined.”

With a library of over 500 characters, The Brand Liaison sees huge potential in licensing.  “We love this property!” Stated Brand Liaison President Steven Heller.  “The characters are so unique and have such broad appeal that the opportunities for licensing and collaborations are almost limitless.   Some of our key goals for licensing include accessories, bags and backpacks, plush, figurines, and collectables, wall art and school supplies, and trading cards and NFT’s.

In addition to outbound licensing of the existing characters, Tokyodachi is eager to expand the brand and current products by creating new characters of top entertainment properties, music icons, and celebrities.

“The artwork is now widely accepted and promoted on College campuses, at retailers, licensing shows, and soon in resorts throughout the USA.” Added Gormley.  “And our annual event, Tokyodachi Mascot Mania has engaged hundreds of thousands each year and has become the College championship of social media.” 

About Tokyodachi

Tokyodachi® are a civilization of Japanese streetwear-inspired characters that represent American sports, pop culture, and other famous icons.  Tokyodachi® have been represented from 800 colleges and sports teams to famous bands like Metallica as well as real and fictitious characters such as Paul Bunyan, and Big foot.      

About The Brand Liaison:

The Brand Liaison is a boutique licensing agency focused on creating new revenue streams for our clients through licensing, strategic partnerships and other brand extension programs.  For licensors, our goal is to commercialize opportunities that will extend our clients’ brands into cohesive product categories to maximize their licensing potential.  For manufacturers, we assist in acquiring brands and developing strong licensing programs in order to create long term retail success.  In each case, we work closely with our clients to ensure that our brand extension activities compliment the strategic goals and objectives of each client and brand that we represent.