In the 1960s, Pierre Cardin had earned a big name in the fashion world with edgy costumes, avant-garde menswear and elegant women's apparel characterized by bold colors, inventive bias cuts and futuristic stylings.

	Would you buy paint from a clothing designer? Ralph Lauren doesn't see why not. Click photo for larger image.

But the French designer didn't become a household name until later, when he began lending the Pierre Cardin name to a slew of other products from cologne, chocolate and wristwatches to wine, bicycles and furniture.

A shrewd entrepreneur, Cardin may have been the first fashion designer to master the art of licensing, now a major and growing influence on the fashion industry. Licensing deals allow designers to grow their brand names -- and, they hope, bottom lines -- by extending their cachet and creativity beyond apparel and into categories where they have interest but lack technical ability.

For any designer or brand in the U.S. apparel industry, licensing is the best -- and some say now the only -- way to grow.

Licensing is a route to diversification that has enabled the likes of Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein to affix their names to handbags, shoes, perfumes, umbrellas, jewelry, bed linens, furniture, paints, even automobiles. In a fashion industry that generated $172.7 billion in retail sales worldwide in 2003, $37.1 billion of that involved licensing products.

Tommy Hilfiger's Fairmount Crest Collection of linens. Click photo for larger image.

As the fashion industry posts record sales -- and becomes more competitive -- increasing numbers of designers are licensing. Last week, Carmen Marc Valvo announced a licensing deal with Global Strategic Inc. for a line of eyewear.

And last month, Elie Tahari inked its first licensing arrangement, which will involve production of fall outerwear collections for the Elie Tahari and Tahari labels with S. Rothschild & Co. Chairman and CEO Elie Tahari called the collaboration "an incredible opportunity to expand brand awareness."

Beyond making a name instantly recognizable, licensing has helped make luxury affordable to the masses. One who is unable to swing $1,100 for Marc Jacobs' new peony silk dress can still feel chic with a spritz of his eponymous $85 eau de parfum. If your budget doesn't include $2,750 for a Louis Vuitton monogram canvas rolling suitcase, the cowhide and golden brass keychain is much more accessible at $185.

Valvo said licensing benefits his brand "by bringing the brand to new retailers where my eveningwear might not be available to a broader customer. There are always risks, but we have to be careful to partner with quality manufacturers who can maintain the standards our customers have come to expect from us."

Licensing also gives designers opportunities to broaden their skills by applying them to something new.

	Ralph Lauren Childrenswear galoshes Click photo for larger image.

"It's invigorating and exciting," Valvo said. "We would never be able to produce these brand extensions were it not for the expertise and manufacturing power of our licensees. I know eveningwear, and they know swimwear, or furs, or their particular area of the industry. So, my customers will know that whether they're buying one of my gowns or a pair of glasses, they are getting an original, classic Carmen design that they come to me for and that will stand the test of time."

While licensing once was the route to offering non-core items -- anything not routinely created by a designer -- it is now more frequently used for core items. Designers who craft only dresses may have a licensee to manufacture their denim and outerwear; likewise, some licensees may take over creating suits that the designer once made.

In licensing, experts in the category are paid to do the work while the designer or brand provides input and exercises creative control so that anything offered under the designer's name is cohesive.

The risk in licensing for a designer or brand is that its reputation is on the line in a new way.

New Yorker Lou Schneider is a self-described "matchmaker" who has been brokering license deals since the '80s, when he helped designer-jean king Sergio Valente branch out into shirt and outerwear categories. The result, he said, was growth to "a couple hundred million" dollars in revenue.

"I try to fit a round peg in a round hole," said Schneider. "The result of licensing is that it should look like one company did it all. The brand or designer approves everything to make sure it meshes and complements in quality."

Licensing is a key component of the strategies of a growing number of fashion designers to do what few -- most notably Lauren -- have done so well: create a "lifestyle brand" that touches every aspect of living.

"The trend today is to be delivering a quality product -- sometimes head-to-toe, inside-to-out -- for many," said Tom Julian, a vice president and strategic director of trends for McCann Erickson in New York City.

For a licensee in the right position, it can be a lucrative business.

"There are numerous companies who have built their business model on producing quality designer products for the masses," said Julian, citing Van Heusen's production of men's shirts for numerous department and specialty store brands.

In exchange for their services, licensees typically receive a share of profits and exclusive production rights.

Another trend is that licensees with deep pockets are no longer just waiting around for a designer or brand to approach them -- they're buying up names that become available on the market and creating products to sell under those names.

Today, there's far more to licensed products than in the early days of shoes, belts, bags, neckties and sunglasses. Licensing has spawned designer makeup, skin care, nail polishes, cell phone charms, iPod cases, dinnerware sets, martini glasses, throw rugs, shower curtains, baby clothes and pet accoutrements.

"It's part of the lifestyle thing," said Meyer Janet, president and owner of Design Plus in Atlanta, which has put together licensing programs for 24 years. "It's important being seen wearing the right brand, and it doesn't matter how old you are. Brands define who we are. It's a subliminal thing."

But that goes beyond designer labels stitched below collars and across the backs of trousers, said Janet.

"We are living in a very sophisticated consumer society. There is no shortage of fantastic merchandise. But you've got to spend a lot of money on promotion and advertising to promote that line. And licensing is lucrative provided the consumer perceives value in the line. You're only as good as the last order you delivered."