HSN and Disney Partner in “Maleficent”

Disney’s upcoming feature film “Maleficent” is the inspiration behind a new collection for the popular HSN cable shopping network. The Maleficent collection is the latest result of a partnership between HSN and Disney that has seen HSN’s designer partners create special items inspired by Disney films.

The movie, which stars Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning, opens May 30 and tells the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty” from Maleficent’s point of view. Maleficent, called Carabosse in the ballet version of “Sleeping Beauty,” is the evil fairy, who curses the Princess Aurora after not being invited to Aurora’s christening.

HSN’s Maleficent Collection will be featured in a series of special programs from May 27-30. Brandi McClain, HSN’s fashion director, said designers like Naeem Khan and jeweler Heidi Daus found the “Maleficent” story to be rich inspiration when they were approached to create pieces for the special collection.

“They were excited. Every time we do a partnership we make the announcement of it to our designers whom we think will be a good fit,” McClain said. “I think they love the room for creativity. They’re able to let the reins go a little bit and have fun.”

McClain said her HSN team was able to go behind the scenes as the film was in production to gather information about colors, textures, and themes that were relayed to the more than 20 designers tapped to create pieces. And, McClain said, designers were reminded to create pieces that were wearable.

“We told them to really go for it with the creativity but this isn’t a kitsch or costume collection. We wanted them to find a balance between things that are truly unique but that don’t come across as too costumey,” she said.

McClain pointed out that the collection’s dark color palette and materials like leather are what one would usually see for fall collections because the film was originally scheduled to be released in the fall.

“I think that’s one of the hallmarks of this collection is that there is an element of drama but it’s also very wearable and that’s important,” she said. “For example, we challenged the designers to think about textures which are a very important element in the film.

“Maleficent is shown in black feathers. But we can’t expect people to want to wear feathers. So in some cases, we ended up doing some custom digital prints with feathers.”

The Maleficent Collection includes fashion, jewelry, beauty and home products from some of HSN’s top designers including licensed products by Naeem Khan, Heidi Daus and Amika and additional collections from Giuliana Rancic, R.J. Graziano, Liz Lange, Jean Dousset, Margaret Rowe, and Diane Gilman.  Other brands creating products for the collection include N by Natori and Clever Carriage.

According to HSN, the Maleficent Collection is the latest in a series of collaborations between Disney and HSN that began with in 2010 with the film “The Help.” Last year, HSN featured a collection inspired by the film “Oz The Great and Powerful” that according to HSN broke sales records for any of its movie-related shopping events.

The Maleficent Collection will be followed later this summer by a collection inspired by the film “The Hundred-Foot Journey” and next year’s release of a new version of “Cinderella.”

For more information about the Maleficent Collection, go to hsn.com.

—Karyn D. Collins