Popeye goes ‘WROGN’ with his new apparel collection

Popeye the Sailor Man is teaming up with the biggest name in Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, for the all-new Popeye x WROGN men’s apparel line, available now in India. WROGN is an Indian youth fashion and apparel brand for men co-created by Kohli, cricketing hero and an international sporting sensation. With its breakaway fashions and razor-sharp attitude, WROGN is a mainstay in the wardrobe of young Indian men. Images can be found here.

Available now in India, the Popeye x WROGN collection includes a range of 28 t-shirts featuring classic poses of the spinach-eating sailor paired with the graphic WROGN logo. Some of the more unique designs include tie-dye detail, an oversized WROGN logo and more. The collection will be promoted through in-store advertising and social media content with brand ambassador, Virat Kohli, modeling the line. The graphic tees retail for INR 1149 each and will also be available on Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Myntra & WROGN’s exclusive brand outlets.

Popeye, the globally renown sailor man is owned by King Features Syndicate, a unit of Hearst and home to some of the world’s most popular entertainment characters. Black White Orange Pvt. Ltd., King Features’ agent in the territory, brokered the collaboration deal out of India.

 “Popeye has an incredibly engaged fanbase in India and this partnership with WROGN brings those fans a fresh line of unique, on-trend merchandise celebrating his “strong to the finish” lifestyle,” said VP and GM, Global Head of Licensing for King Features, Carla Silva. “Virat Kohli is the biggest name in Indian sports and a true global icon, just like Popeye, and we can’t imagine a better partner than WROGN to debut this new collaboration.”

“We are excited about this collaboration between India’s leading youth fashion brand and the iconic character Popeye,” said Anjana Reddy, CEO, Universal Sportsbiz Pvt. Ltd. (USPL), owner of WROGN.  “This collaboration gives us the perfect opportunity to present our fun and quirky renditions to our customers. We have thoroughly enjoyed designing this collection and we are certain that this playful and stylish range will be well received by our target audience.”

“We’ve had a fabulous working relationship with USPL, they've been a key partner for us the past few years,” said Mitali Desai, co-founder & COO at Black White Orange Brands Pvt. Ltd. “Popeye is one of our favorite brands and we're super excited to see the Wrogn X Popeye range come to life through some fantastic designs. Fans are going to love this collection.”

This latest apparel launch follows the recent announcement of Popeye’s Fall/Winter 2022 menswear collection from ICEBERG along with sustainability-focused fashions from partners such as United Colors of Benetton, Original Marines, Brava Fabrics and À La Garçonne.

 Virat Kohli is one the biggest names in India, with a brand value more than double the next most valuable celebrity; Kohli’s brand value rose by 39% to $237.5 million in 2019. The Indian International cricketer and the former captain of the Indian national team has 182 million followers on Instagram. Apart from Instagram, Virat also has a massive following on Facebook  and Twitter. As of now, he has 46.4 million followers on Twitter and 49 million followers on Facebook. During his cricketing career, Kohli has received several awards like: Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Padma Shri, Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Decade and many more.