Where’s Waldo celebrates 25th anniversary with style

Where’s Waldo? When the bespectacled children’s book character kicks off his 25th anniversary celebrations Thursday, he won’t be difficult to find. Waldo started making celebratory fashion cameos during New York Fashion Week recently, where the capped adventurer in his trademark red-and-white shirt had a front row seat.

“Waldo’s stripes are always in fashion,” said Nicole Blake, executive vice president of global marketing for Classic Media, which bought the Where’s Waldo franchise in 2007. As part of the 25th anniversary Show Your Stripes campaign, Classic Media has lent the Waldo image to a handful of fashion brands, including Comme des Garcons in Tokyo, Zatchels in the United Kingdom and Warby Parker in New York.

At its boutiques in London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beijing, Comme des Garcons is offering scarves ($495), as well as short- and long-sleeved T-shirts ($245 and $265, respectively), in “The Department Store” graphic from a “Where’s Waldo” book.

Through Sept. 30, Zatchels, a British bag maker, is selling three designs of its Where’s Wally tote bag for 109 pounds sterling, or roughly $177. (Where’s Waldo is known as Where’s Wally in England.) The 13-inch white leather bags are available in red and white stripes or decorated with a Where’s Wally scene, similar to those in the books that have sold more than 58 million copies globally since 1987.

Warby Parker in New York is dedicating its round Monroe eyeglass frames to the “explorer, escape artist, and all-around goofy dude,” it says on its website, where its matte black Waldo glasses sell for $95.

“Waldo reminds us of everything we loved about childhood: Solving mysteries, looking at pictures, and watching adults do wacky things,” said Warby Parker spokesperson, Kaki Read. “What’s not to love about the goofy guy?”

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