Tweens, dress like Hannah Montana
Fred411 Nov 24, 2009 08:28PM

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BY SAMANTHA CRITCHELL

AP Fashion Writer

NEW YORK--The Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" is opening her closet to fans.

The company is launching a full collection of clothes, accessories, home decor and even real electric guitars as Disney goes after the increasingly powerful tween market.

Hannah's alter ego, Miley Cyrus--wearing a hot-pink sequined tank top, white jeans and a white leather jacket--offered a first glimpse of the Disney Consumer Products line last week in Manhattan.

The look mimicked Hannah's overall style, sweet and appropriate for school with flashes of sparkle. (The premise of the show is that Hannah is a country girl-turned-pop star who tries to keep her celebrity life a secret from her classmates.)

'IT'S NOT A COSTUME'

Among the offerings, modeled by wannabe Hannahs even younger than 14-year-old Miley: a denim jumper with rhinestones, slim-cut Bermuda shorts, cargo-pocket capris with swaths of silver, a sundress topped with a denim vest and a sheer beaded bolero worn over a regular tank.

A handful of the T-shirts were covered with Hannah's face, but otherwise logos and literal references to Hannah were kept to a minimum.

"It's not a costume. A tween girl isn't doing dress up, they want to look like they could be Hannah Montana's friend," said Donna Sheridan, vice president and general manager of apparel, footwear and accessories for Disney Consumer Products. "This is a fashion line."

Disney Consumer Products expects retail sales of its tween business to hit $400 million this year with a lot of room to expand.

Hannah's not alone

"Hannah Montana" will not be shouldering all the burden of growth--the sequel to the wildly popular original movie "High School Musical" premieres on the Disney Channel Aug. 17 and a broad partnership with Wal-Mart is already in place.

don't forget the boys

While the "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical 2" lines largely appeal to tween girls, Nickelodeon also announced at the Licensing Expo that it plans to roll out a CD, clothing line and book series based on its show "The Naked Brothers Band," starring real-life tween brothers Nat and Alex Wolff, who also play rock stars.

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