50 Shades of Grey Movie: Christian Grey and Anastasia Steel Inspired Clothing Line in the Works

Culture

The best-selling author of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, E.L. James, signed a licensing deal this week with three different retailers to distribute Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey-inspired clothing. 

Hoping to profit from the enormous success of the erotic S&M novel, James negotiated with clothing brands Briefly Stated, HYP, and Freeze Clothing to design a line of merchandise -- according to TMZ.

CopCorp licensing confirms that these brands will begin designing women’s T-shirts, hoodies, pajamas, tights, daywear, and, of course, lingerie with a Fifty Shades of Grey theme. The clothing line is the first collection of products officially licensed by James.

The president of CopCorp said, "We've worked closely with London-based global agent Caroline Mickler, along with author E. L. James and her literary agent Valerie Hoskins, to make sure that we select the right licensing and retail partners for the brand."

Given the sexual nature of the book, lingerie is predicted to have extremely high sales. In the book Steele is described as wearing "exquisitely designed fancy European lingerie. All pale blue lace and finery," and the public can’t wait to get their hands on it. Readers’ overwhelming fascination with the series is sure to bolster sales of this particular lingerie collection nationwide.

There is no word yet on whether the licensing deal will include blindfolds, whips, or bondage. It’s likely that Steele’s purple dress that she borrows from a friend to meet Grey for the first time will be one of the hot items in the collection.

Chronicling the relationship between the young and inexperienced Anastasia Steele and the sexually domineering business mogul, Christian Grey, Fifty Shades of Grey took the literary world by storm when it exceeded Harry Potter sales and became the fastest-selling paperback of all time. All three installments of James’ provocative series dominate book sales with 40 million copies sold.

The leading role in the upcoming movie adaptation for Grey has not yet been cast, but fans are rooting for either Ryan Gosling, best known for his role in The Notebook, or Matt Bomer, from the television series White Collar.

Even though the main characters are scantily clad in most of the book, clothing sales are sure to impress given the cultural impact of the trilogy.