Brewer AB InBev branches into clothing

Clothing design firm Erve Europe has announced a multi-year partnership with the word’s largest brewer, AB InBev, to launch a branded apparel collection.

The deal, which was brokered by IMG, will see clothing designs featuring the brewer’s global beer brands including Becks, Budweiser, Bud Light and Stella. The casual-wear collection will feature t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, trousers, loungewear, underwear and socks.

Launching in May this year, it will be sold across Europe in supermarkets, high street fashion outlets, department stores and online via the Erve website.

Commenting on the move, Arno-Laurent Dieteren, global licensing manager at Erve Europe, said: “In line with our company’s mission to strive towards growth, we are thrilled to launch AB InBev beer-branded fashion in Europe. We feel confident, given our close partnership with IMG and our dedicated distribution channels, to make this a success. Great brands and exceptional quality and compliance standards have proven to be the perfect combination to deliver successful collections to various customers across Europe.”

Erve, which has offices across three continents, designs, sources, produces, packs and transports branded clothing for major fashion retailers.

While AB InBev does produce ranges of branded merchandise, its deal with Erve is on a much larger scale. The brewer is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with outdoor clothing specialist Patagonia over trademark infringement. The dispute, which could go to trial, came about after the clothing firm objected to AB InBev releasing Patagonia-branded clothing for its beer brand of the same name. 

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