SmileyWorld® today announces its 2026 back-to-school programme, bringing 12 licensing partners together in a single, social-led campaign running from today through to the first day of term. Content rolls out from 15 July across SmileyWorld®'s global social channels, with partner products available across Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
For a young person, walking into a new classroom is the biggest introduction of the year. The bag on their shoulder, the pens on their desk and the stickers on their locker speak before they do. With expressive designs that promote individuality, this campaign is about making back-to-school shopping more exciting, from what you wear to how you decorate your space and what you carry to class. However you are feeling, SmileyWorld® helps you show up feeling truly you. This is back to school, your way.
Created by the Smiley® Studio marketing team and developed hand in hand with each partner, the campaign combines playful themed content with global creator collaborations, and a partner line-up that covers the entire school day, from the pen in your hand to the helmet on the ride home. Built for kids, tweens and teens, it turns every feeling of the season, the nerves and the excitement alike, into a bold style statement.
The programme is structured as a rolling campaign rather than a single drop. Several collections are already on shelf, with the remainder landing through July as back-to-school trading builds from August into September across the UK, Germany, Poland, France and the United States. For retailers, that means a sustained run of product, creator content and social activity all the way to the school gates.
Janet Martin, Chief Product Officer - Lifestyle Consumer Products, The Smiley® Company, comments:
“Back-to-school is one of those moments that really matters. It's exciting for young people and a big opportunity for our partners. Bringing 12 partners together in one connected campaign shows the reach of SmileyWorld®, with partners everywhere from Paris and Los Angeles to Bangkok. Wherever they are, they're creating products that help young people find a piece of SmileyWorld® that feels like it was made for them. That's what SmileyWorld® is all about – helping everyone express themselves in their own unique way.”
The Line-Up |
Kipling | Smiley® - Launching August 12th The Antwerp-founded travel and lifestyle brand brings its signature crinkled nylon, monkey keyring mascot and Live Light philosophy to a range of backpacks, bags and pencil cases. Available from August across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. |
PILOT x SmileyWorld® - Available Now The premium stationery brand invites students to “Write Happier with G2”, with a range of refillable, quick-drying G2 gel pens carrying SmileyWorld® icons. Available across the United States at Target and Walmart.  |
LÄSSIG x SmileyWorld® - Available Now The German family and lifestyle brand marks the first licensed collection in its history with a KEEP SMILING range for children aged one to six. The hero rucksack leads a line-up that also includes lunch boxes, drinking bottles, socks and beanies. Available now across Europe, the UK, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and more than a dozen further markets. |
Yoobi x SmileyWorld® - Available Now The mission-led school supplies brand brings colour and purpose to the classroom with SmileyWorld® stickers and erasers, available at Walgreens across the United States and Canada. For every qualifying purchase, Yoobi donates an essential school item to a classroom in an underserved community, having now given more than 96 million products to over seven million children. |
Thousand® x SmileyWorld® - Available Now Following the debut of its Thousand Next youth collection, the Los Angeles safety brand turns protection into self-expression with two limited-edition helmets for riders aged 11 to 16, built around motion-blur graphics and distorted SmileyWorld® icons. Available across 13 markets including the United States, the UK, France, Germany, South Korea, China and Japan.  |
Paso Polska x SmileyWorld® - Available Now Backpacks, bags and pencil cases carrying SmileyWorld®'s optimism and positive slogans, available across Poland.  |
Lannoo x SmileyWorld® - Available Now A full stationery offer of backpacks, pencil cases and paper products, available across Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.  |
Art Smile x SmileyWorld® - Available Now Paints, pencils and canvases that hand the SmileyWorld® universe straight to young creators, available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Turkey, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.  |
Karton P+P x SmileyWorld® - Available Now Backpacks, pencil cases, bottles and paper products, available across the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.  |
Pozitiv Trade x SmileyWorld® - Available Now A complete back-to-school range spanning bags, stationery and accessories, available across Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Azerbaijan. |
Eurocom x SmileyWorld® - Available Now SmileyWorld® notebooks designed to make every page a little brighter, available across Slovenia, Bosnia and Hungary. |
Pixyls x SmileyWorld® - Available Now Sticker sheets that let students customise their books, lockers and laptops, available worldwide.  |
A Connected 360 Story Across the campaign, hero stationery and accessories ranges are aligned with a creator-led content approach and a line-up of global influencer collaborations. Each piece of content is developed to spotlight partner product while reinforcing the values SmileyWorld® was built on: creativity, individuality and optimism. The programme reflects The Smiley® Company's wider strategy of supporting its partners and licensees through the commercial moments that matter most to them. More to Come This Summer Individual partner announcements will follow through July and August, spotlighting the collections in greater depth as each market moves into peak trading. |