‘ACOTAR’ is the latest franchise that brands are clamoring to collaborate with
First, it was “Barbie.” Then, it was “Wicked.” Now, brands are jumping on the IP opportunity around “A Court of Thorns and Roses.”
The book series, authored by Sarah J. Maas, is debuting its sixth installment on Oct. 27, called “A Court of Splintered Harmony.” Since 2015, the ACOTAR franchise has sold more than 75 million copies globally and helped power the growth of the “romantasy” genre. As readers await the next book, and even get ready for the just-announced seventh installment, they can summon the world of Prythian via ACOTAR fragrances, apparel and drinkware.
On Oct. 11, Target rolled out merchandise inspired by the Courts and characters at the heart of the franchise, including BrüMate tumblers and Alex and Ani bracelets and earrings. The retailer will hold midnight book-release events at select stores and offer a gift with purchase. Also on Oct. 11, Fine’ry rolled out “reimagined” versions of four existing scents in its lineup with new names and packaging inspired by the hit series. On Oct. 15, Knix is debuting a collection of leakproof underwear, lingerie and sleepwear inspired by ACOTAR characters, alongside five exclusive Court-inspired prints.
Meanwhile, in September, Funko Pop debuted figurines of ACOTAR characters, including Feyre, Tamlin, Lucien, The Suriel and Rhysand. One figure, of Feyre with her bow and arrow, is exclusive to Barnes & Noble and its online bookstore. In early October, Loungefly created a crossbody bag with side-by-side pictures of the book covers, as well as a Ramiel Mountain mini backpack and Bat Boys canvas tote bag.
Brand collaborations around popular franchises are becoming more commonplace in today’s competitive marketing landscape. In 2023, more than 100 brands — including Gap, Forever 21 and Swoon — created products around Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie. Then, “Wicked” and its sequel, “Wicked: For Good,” spawned a sea of pink-and-green partnerships with the likes of Voluspa and Le Creuset. “The White Lotus” also sparked a licensing bonanza in 2025. Jeremy Ekes, vp of client strategy and service at the marketing firm January Digital, told GNReport that IP is valuable for brands because “attention is the scarcest thing in marketing, and IP comes with it pre-installed.”
“Brands can buy media all day to drive reach, but spend alone can’t manufacture love,” he explained. “A collab with a franchise like ACOTAR starts with a group that shows up, posts and defends the product. ‘Barbie’ proved the model at a massive scale, and now, every brand wants a franchise to borrow a point of view from.”
There is, in fact, a unique opportunity in using a book’s IP, versus that of a movie, TV show or cartoon character, Ekes said.
“Sports and film IP deliver spectacle at a massive scale almost immediately,” he said. “Literary IP delivers intimacy. Readers carry the world in their heads, so the fandom is more emotional and more loyal, and there’s no single canonical look, which gives brands real creative room.” ACOTAR is also a popular discussion point on BookTok, an influential subcommunity on TikTok that shares book reviews and recommendations.
Intimates brand Knix decided to launch its ACOTAR collection after 40 of its employees, all self-proclaimed fans of the books, expressed interest in working with the franchise, chief marketing officer Cyntia Leo told GNReport. Knix also sent out a social-media survey and email, asking its customers who they’d like to see the brand partner with. ACOTAR was the No. 1 result.
The finding made sense, Leo said, considering both properties’ audiences. “Our mission is really centered around empowering women to live unapologetically free, and I feel like, in a way, these books also allow women and people who read them to be confident in their bodies,” she said.
Knix spent 18 months developing the collection, which it teased on Oct. 5 with a landing page and waitlist. But the brand didn’t want to “slap the ACOTAR name on our normal products,” Leo explained. “We wanted to be incredibly authentic to the book, [because] we know there’s such fandom,” she said.
Knix ended up designing items linked to key moments in the franchise; its Lace Teddy & Sheer Skirts, which layer together, recreate the main protagonist Feyre’s “unforgettable turn in the Court of Nightmares,” per Knix’s site. The brand also worked with a local artist to make unique prints featuring “Easter eggs” from the book, like eye and fox motifs, and apply them to existing Knix products like bras and underwear, Leo said. The Knix design team reviewed pieces line by line against the books to make sure colors and moods were consistent. Knix also ran designs by members of the series’ fan club.
Knix plans to promote the line via events in New York City and Toronto, social media campaigns, and ads on platforms such as Reddit. Knix is also collaborating with 20 BookTok influencers across the country and bringing them on a brand trip. The products will be available via Knix’s website in the U.S. and Canada, plus Free People, and the Canadian bookstore Indigo.
Fine’ry, meanwhile, is rolling out its ACOTAR-branded scents first at Target. It will then bring the products to more than 7,000 doors across seven retailers, including Amazon and Books–A–Million. Each bottle of eau de parfum will retail for $29.99. The collection was made in partnership with IMG Licensing.
Like Knix, Fine’ry combed through Maas’s books for inspiration — this time, looking for scent descriptions. The Fine’ry team then went to its lineup to find corresponding fragrances it could rename in the style of ACOTAR. Fine’ry’s jasmine-scented No Prince Required, for instance, is being repackaged as Night in Velaris because of the fictional city’s association with jasmine. The other three scents are High Lady of the Night Court, High Lord of the Night Court and Moonstone Palace.
Fine’ry, whose audience is mostly millennials and Gen Z, felt that its brand was a good match for the ACOTAR franchise. “There’s a level of escapism that naturally comes with reading fantasy, where you can imagine yourself in another world. And I think the same is true for fragrance, in a way,” Vanessa Santana, brand marketing director at Fine’ry, told Glossy.
The seventh ACOTAR book, “A Court of Forgotten Melody,” will be released in January, and it’s likely more brands will look for a way to capitalize on the hype. But ultimately, for the sake of loyal fans, it’s vital for brands to literally play it by the book, Ekes said.
“Fans know the lore cold,” he explained. A faithful brand partnership, for this reason, will be treated as a “love letter,” while half-efforts will get “torn apart,” he added. “Reach is narrower, so brands have to match the fandom to their actual customer, instead of chasing size.”