The cultural translator: how we bridge heritage institutions and commercial partners

Licensing heritage brands is unlike licensing anything else.

You need to navigate between two very different sets of priorities. On one side, commercial partners want relevance, differentiation and retail-ready assets. On the other, curators and archivists care deeply about accuracy, attribution and the integrity of their subject matter.

At Skew, we act as translators between these two worlds. We help commercial partners understand cultural values. And we help heritage brands understand commercial opportunities — without compromising on what makes them special.

This article is for anyone trying to turn cultural value into commercial value. Especially if you’re operating in museums, heritage brands, or historic archives.

What makes heritage licensing uniquely difficult?

Heritage licensors face a specific set of challenges:

• No exclusive IP: You may be known for a certain period or movement, but you don’t necessarily own the most famous works. Your assets might be non-exclusive, or shared across institutions.
• Style-sensitive content: Some pieces just don’t match current trends. Translating them for contemporary use can risk curator pushback.
• Intangible brand value: Often, your brand is more about what people feel than what they can see. You’re selling a story, not a logo.

Each of these issues can slow deals, create creative tensions, or result in generic, underperforming products.

Skew exists to solve this specific kind of problem. Our method is equal parts strategic, creative, and relational.

Here’s how we work:

• Step one: audit the IP

We assess what the brand is really known for - not just internally, but in the minds of your audience. We map cultural relevance, brand DNA, and public perception. Then we ask the big question - why should people care about this brand being on a product?

• Step two: rethink (with sensitivity)

If you’re drawing from a historical piece, you need to be careful. Our creative process often involves isolating key motifs, selecting powerful visual details, and re-contextualising them in fresh formats that still honour the original.

• Step three: turn intangible into tangible

We create form from feeling. For the National Trust, that meant abstract patterns evoking land and sea. For the Van Gogh Museum, that meant drawing out emotional resonance from his letters and sketches. For RHS, we made floral collections based on archival imagery and seasonal moods.

In this way you turn a cultural experiences into products someone wants in their home or wardrobe.

Three things you need to get right

If you’re licensing a heritage brand, there are some golden rules. Here are three of the most important:

• Bring the curators with you

They’re your first audience. If they don’t trust you, the project won’t move forward. Respect their work and show how your strategy brings it to new audiences.

• Do the homework

You can’t trend-slap your way into success here. Generic surface-level design won’t cut it. Go deep, and your partners will respond in kind.

• Tell a proper story

Heritage is all about provenance. Why this artist? Why this archive? Why now? If you want retail partners and consumers to care, you need to answer those questions upfront.

Style guides as a bridge

Style guides are often treated as compliance tools. For heritage brands, they’re much more than that.

We use them as creative conversation starters, ways to visualise what’s possible without overwhelming licensees.

Cathy Snow at RHS puts it well, “We developed our style guides because we wanted to give licensees ideas and themes, and a steer to make their lives easier. Our ready-to-use patterns and artwork cut-outs save licensees time.”

Whether it’s 18th-century engravings adapted for home fragrance or 500-year-old botanical illustrations used in modern textiles, the style guide becomes a gateway — from archive to retail shelf.

Turning brand equity into design equity

One of the most rewarding parts of this work is creating something from seemingly nothing.

For the National Trust, we translated nature into pattern. For Van Gogh, we found new energy in lesser-known sketches. For British Museum, we organised style guides around contemporary themes like “home” and “eating” — rather than strict historical periods — to unlock richer creative thinking.

Each time, the starting point was intangible brand equity. Each time, the end result was an ownable, differentiated design asset.

What can you take away?

Show, don’t tell.

Don’t expect people to be persuaded by your intentions. Build confidence by showing strong strategy, great samples, and tangible outcomes. Once people see that you’re capable of being commercial, creative, and culturally respectful, they’ll give you more creative latitude.

If you’re looking to licence a heritage brand (or turn an intangible asset into a real product) we’d love to help.