2020 saw the company introduce a Hermione costume kit which has performed beyond expectation.

Harry Potter once again topped World Book Day sales for Rubie’s, with seven of its top ten performing lines drawn from the Wizarding World.

With Rubie’s research showing that Hermione is the most spontaneously mentioned Book Week character after Harry himself, the big news for 2020 was the introduction of a Hermione costume kit which performed beyond expectation. Professor McGonagall was the best performing adult costume.

“We are investing in consumer insights and market research to tap into our audience – knowing what they want to dress up in and how they consume content around these characters is helping shape our business decisions,” commented Vicki Hamilton, Rubie’s marketing manager. ‘It’s great for parents to have a variety of new book characters coming through, and we’re excited to unveil some brand new licences for 2021.’

World Book Day 2020 was a huge success and it wasn’t just Wizarding World that helped the company’s significant year on year growth. 2020 results also showed that comic book characters are still a popular choice for young readers, and Mary Poppins has yet to lose her appeal for kids or grown-ups. Disney’s Frozen II continues to delight fans and Star Wars has started to see a resurgence.

With Disney+ launching this month, there are high hopes for the Disney brand portfolio. Core licensed characters were the stand-out success of WBD according to several major UK retailers, and Rubie’s offers nearly 200 character brands to choose from.