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Introduction

Fossil Incorporated (NASDAQ: FOSL) is a global design, marketing, and distribution company that specializes in consumer fashion accessories. Principal offerings include men’s and women’s fashion watches and jewelry, handbags, small leather goods, belts, sunglasses, apparel, and cold weather goods. In the watch and jewelry category, Fossil has a diverse portfolio of globally recognized owned and licensed brand names under which its products are marketed. Products are distributed globally through various channels including wholesale, export, and direct to consumer.

Based in Richardson, Texas, the company has grown from a small, family-owned wholesale enterprise to a billion dollar fashion lifestyle brand. Fossil currently has over 6,065 employees worldwide and sells products in over 100 countries.

Company History

Fossil was established in 1984 as Overseas Products International, an import, design, and manufacturing wholesaler of fashion watches. Brothers Tom and Kosta Kartsotis founded the enterprise, beginning with a trip to Hong Kong and 1,500 watches. By 1987, the company had assumed the name Fossil, Inc. and secured its presence in many prominent U.S. retailers. At this time, the brand reflected a vintage design aesthetic, reminiscent of 1940s and 50s era advertisements. The company’s design and distribution strategies enjoyed near-immediate success, inspiring the introduction of the iconic tin packaging and new product lines, including leather goods, eyewear, and apparel. In 2000, Fossil also opened the doors to exclusive outlets and accessory stores, revealing its solid presence in the fashion marketplace. Today, Fossil continues to grow as it introduces new designs, stores, and product categories

Intellectual Property

Modern Vintage

Though Fossil is still widely recognized as a vintage brand, the company’s design principles have markedly changed since the company’s inception. As the brand has evolved, the once dominant Americana imagery has been increasingly abstracted and stylized to reflect modern tastes, ultimately resulting in a synthesis of modern and vintage visual principles. Fossil’s now distinctive modern vintage aesthetic owes its inspiration to the Mid-Century modern artistic movement and design pioneers Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Charles and Ray Eames, and Richard Neutra. Fossil exclusively communicates in the modern vintage visual language, which determines everything from product design to store architecture.

Today, Fossil aims to transform the modern vintage style into a modern vintage lifestyle. “Mark & Julie,” personifications of Fossil’s target consumers, serve as benchmarks against which designers measure their integrity to the brand as they concept new designs and campaigns. “Mark & Julie” have a fresh, youthful perspective. They are adventurous, conscious of the world around them, engaged in creative culture, and have a great sense of humor. In the modern vintage visual landscape, they interact with Fossil’s designs, and the young, independent spirit of the brand is reflected in their posturing, expressions, and relationship to the creative setting.

Modern Vintage in Products

Fossil employs the colors, textures, and shapes of vintage design in the creation of modern products. Organic geometric forms, bright retro palettes, and distressed surfaces appear throughout the lines of accessories. Fossil reveals its commitment and close attention to the modern vintage aesthetic in product details including icon plates, textile linings, surface embossing, and zipper pulls.

Modern Vintage in Apparel

Fossil introduced apparel in 2000, adapting the modern vintage style to fashions popular among young-spirited design-conscious adults. Graphic tees feature authentic vintage prints in the spirit of modern design. Organic eco-totes aim to promote environmental awareness while maintaining the creative spirit of the brand.

Modern Vintage in Visual Communication

Fossil focuses each new campaign on one simple message. Throughout the season, this single foundational idea is abstracted, transposed, and reflected in posters, product design, store architecture, and catalogs.

Name

In 1985, Overseas Products International had three lines of watches on the market, based on different design themes. The line with a 1950s era style achieved quick success. These watches were a favorite of Tom and Kosta Kartsotis’ father, nicknamed by the brothers “the Fossil.”

Tinspiration

In 1989, Fossil set out to design a package that would serve not only as a container for products, but also as a canvas for creativity, an accessory to communicate the very soul of the brand. Early designers found their inspiration in the colorful tin packaging and creative culture of the 1940s and 50s. The distinctive Fossil tins that resulted altered the accepted notions of what a package means and can do. They have continued to evolve into modern icons, documenting the evolution of the modern vintage style and appearing in personal collections around the world. Fossil produces more than 3 million tins per year in over 100 different designs. .” Since the inception of the tins, Fossil has introduced many other styles of packaging based on the same creative principles.

In 2006, Fossil published Tinspiration, a visual retrospective of its tins. 1,019 tins are pictured in the book, which documents both the evolution of the shape of the tins as well as the visual style of the brand.

Brands

Proprietary Brands

• FOSSIL
• FIFTY FOUR FOSSIL
• RELIC
• MICHELE
• ZODIAC

Licensed Brands

• Adidas Performance and Heritage Timepieces
• Burberry Timepieces
• Callaway Golf Timepieces
• Columbia Sportswear Timepieces
• DIESELWatches and Jewelry
• DKNY Timepieces
• Emporio Armani Timepieces and Jewelry
• Marc by Marc Jacobs Timepieces
• MICHAEL Michael Kors Timepieces
• PHILIPPE STARCK with FOSSIL Timepieces

Fossil, Inc. also has license rights with universities, sporting organizations, and entertainment companies, including NFL, UCLA, USC, and UT.