Take that, Gwynnie! Robbie Williams sets his sights on rival with a lifestyle brand… called Hopeium
By Katie Hind For The Mail On Sunday This may interest you : Modern art in the Esteem machine.
Posted: 22:03 BST 23 Jul 2022 | Updated: 24 July 2022, 01:48 BST
Will Robbie become the new Gwynnie? Former Take That star Robbie Williams has caused a stir after branding a number of products including cosmetics, clothing and accessories under the Hopeium brand.
The 48-year-old singer, who has had problems with weight, drugs and alcohol in the past, applied to the Intellectual Property Office for the rights to use the word in Great Britain and America.
The name – a combination of “hope” and “opium” – means in urban slang “to cling to unreasonable or unfounded hopes”.
Robbie Williams’ new brand, called Hopeium, will release a range of products including cosmetics, clothing and accessories.
Like Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, 49, who launched her lifestyle brand Goop in 2008, Williams is expected to sell aromatherapy oils, perfumes, face oils and makeup — though it’s unclear whether his offerings will include anything like her more exotic items such as ‘This Smells Like My Vagina’ or ‘Sex Dust’ candles.
It could also launch a Hopeium clothing collection, including sportswear, formalwear, footwear and sunglasses, as well as pants, thongs and tankinis, and even an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of so-called crypto collectibles – such as digital art – and a registry for digital assets, collectibles and coins.
One industry insider said: “The fact that Robbie has protected so many products would mean he’s going to launch so big. It’s clear he’s planning a big brand and will sell a wide range of lifestyle products in the UK and US.”
Williams, who is worth an estimated £280m and has six solo albums in the UK top 100, has opened up about his spiritualism after putting his descent into substance abuse behind him.
After leaving Take That, he released his first solo album, Life Thru A Lens, in 1997, and will release his latest in September – called XXV.
Miss Paltrow, who starred in Shakespeare in Love and Iron Man and is worth £200m, has found Goop a huge commercial success – and other celebrities have copied her business model.
This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby was set to set up a business with Dragons’ Den’s Peter Jones in 2018 but has pulled out. This year she started her own brand Wylde Moon without him. Tamara Ecclestone launches children’s lifestyle brand Fifi & friends.
