These are phrases I by no means imagined saying, however as I sit cross legged on a beanbag chair in my daughters’ playroom on a name with Los Angeles-based digital creator Sophia Torres, it takes lower than 5 minutes for the query to return up.
Torres trades in all issues cute. Her wardrobe is stuffed with twirly ballerina skirts and bow-bedecked headbands and her bed room has a whole part devoted to collectables from Japanese leisure firm Sanrio. She tells me that Pompompurin–a squishy yellow canine who wears a beret—is her favourite character from the beloved model, however Hello Kitty, the corporate’s first and arguably best-known creation, is excessive up on the checklist. Which brings us again to the dance celebration in query.
“It’s mainly a rave however Hello Kitty makes an look and so they have graphics of her DJ-ing, and issues like that,” says Torres, 28, explaining this is only one of some ways the cartoon’s legions of mega-fans have a good time her IRL. “You do must be over 21 to affix, however there’s this healthful [aspect] of Hello Kitty simply having a great time and shaking some ass, you realize?”
Honestly, I don’t know. But when you begin paying consideration, her charming mouthless face and little pink bow are omnipresent—particularly this summer season, which marks the fiftieth anniversary of her debut. She’s the star of a brand new collaboration with Forever21, and featured on limited-edition Baggu print luggage and laptop computer instances. Punky cult-favorite label Chopova Lowena is providing a whole line centered round her likeness at Nordstrom; beloved ice cream chain Van Leeuwen has been peddling pints of a Hello Kitty-themed taste with berries and white chocolate truffle. (Which sadly, not less than at my nearest Brooklyn outpost, seems to be offered out.)
“We have been strategically licensing Hello Kitty for a number of a long time with a variety of merchandise which might be chosen with a continuing give attention to each her present followers in addition to the subsequent era of followers,” Jill Koch, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management at Sanrio Inc., tells me through e mail. “We’re all the time keeping track of manufacturers, merchandise, and companions that can shock and delight her followers to maintain the love of Hello Kitty rising and evolving.”
This technique is clearly working. The marketplace for the unofficial ambassador of kawaii (the Japanese time period for all issues cuddly and cute) is prospering, even outdoors the elevated buzz a semicentennial milestone creates. Which, it ought to be famous, is lots: According to Koch, Sanrio has been firing on all cylinders to make the event significant by means of digital experiences throughout platforms like YouTube and Roblox. They are additionally providing in particular person occasions like a “Hello Kitty evening” with the L.A. Dodgers during which a life-sized Hello Kitty throws out the primary pitch and visitors obtain a particular fiftieth anniversary plush memento.
Hello Kitty evening at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.Getty Images
