Together with four Swiss nationals who are acting as minority shareholders, Tony Hutchinson has bought back the shares of International Brand Licensing (IBL), the company that was managing the rights for the Admiral brand, to use it for the launch of an interesting brand of bodywear, Muscle Athletic, through the licensing mode that he masters so well. Hutchinson, a former top executive of Umbro, is putting together a business plan for Muscle Athletic under which retailers in various countries may turn out to be among the best possible licensees for the brand, using it for exclusive lines of fitness clothing and other products. He is already in contact with potential partners in the U.K. and North America. IBL has been most recently the property of EFK Diagnostics, which decided in 2009 to sell the rights to the Admiral brand name to various licensees around the world. IBL had bought Muscle Athletic in 2006, but did not do much with it beyond the presentation of some samples of very technical gymwear at the Magic show in Las Vegas in 2008. Featuring a distinctive logo, Muscle Athletic was a rather prominent brand in the ‘seventies, but then remained dormant for quite some time.

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