Jellycat’s wordmark. Public domain as a text logo (trademarked), via Wikimedia Commons. No freely licensed photo of a Jellycat toy exists — the characters are Jellycat’s own designs.
Jellycat
What it took directly
- documentedJellycat comes from brothers Thomas and William Gatacre, 1999"Jellycat was founded in 1999 by brothers Thomas and William Gatacre" Fortune (Emma Burleigh, February 2025); The Guardian (January 2025) gives the same founders and year, and the city: London
- documentedThe name Jellycat took from a suggestion from Thomas Gatacre’s seven-year-old son"And so, in 1999, Jellycat was born, named after a suggestion from Thomas’ seven-year-old son." The MBS Group, recounting William Gatacre’s telling of the founding (January 2021)
- documentedThe Amuseables range (2018) took from everyday objects, made into soft toys"The Amuseables series, a range of stuffed everyday objects that launched in 2018, is especially popular at the moment and proof that Jellycat can make anything into a soft toy and turn a profit." The Guardian (Chloë Hamilton, January 2025)
- documentedJellycat’s adult following took from the post-pandemic need for escape and comfort"Jellycat grew in this perfect storm of a post-pandemic need for escape, a need for comfort" Bia Bezamat, cultural expert at Kantar, to Fortune (Emma Burleigh, February 2025)
- documentedJellycat’s recent boom took from collectors showing off their displays on TikTok and Instagram"The store owners credited this to the toys becoming hugely popular on TikTok and Instagram, with collectors showing off their displays." independent stockists, to BBC News (Grace Dean, July 2025)
What it learned to do
- statedJellycat’s designs learned from art, books, music and architecture"There’s also nothing that shouldn’t influence our designs: art, books, music, architecture. We spend our time watching the world." William Gatacre, co-founder, to The MBS Group (January 2021)
- statedJellycat co-founder William Gatacre learned from Alan Fletcher, the British designer"someone I look up to – more for their way of thinking than as a business mentor – is Alan Fletcher, who is one of the great British designers." William Gatacre, to The MBS Group (January 2021)
- inferredJellycat’s two new collections a year learned from fashion’s seasonal calendar"Taking inspiration from the art, fashion and design worlds, the company operates a seasonal model, bringing out over 200 new items every January and July." inferred — The MBS Group says Jellycat takes inspiration from the art, fashion and design worlds and runs a seasonal model; it does not say the January/July calendar itself was borrowed from fashion
The tradition it sits in
- statedJellycat answered a toy market its co-founder found tired"That was the case with the toys market twenty years ago. It felt tired, bare, and a little bit taxidermy." William Gatacre, to The MBS Group (January 2021)
- documentedJellycat’s adult fan base comes from “kidult” culture — adults who collect toys such as Lego and Sonny Angels"Jellycat toys have also been a growing trend among "kidults" - adults with a strong interest in toys and childish ephemera, such as Lego and Sonny Angels dolls." BBC News (Grace Dean, July 2025) — the outlet’s placement of the trend, not a claim Jellycat makes
- inferredThe Jellycat collecting and resale craze comes from the Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s"It’s like the Beanie Baby craze of the 90s but with a more premium product." inferred — The Guardian’s Chloë Hamilton draws the comparison; she does not say Jellycat descends from Beanie Babies
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