Hi there Kitty Clothes Collaborations & Extra Collections to Know

Initially created by Ikuko Shimizu for Sanrio in 1974, Hi there Kitty celebrates her fiftieth birthday on Friday. The beloved character has spawned tv exhibits, video video games and merchandise starting from stationery to residence items, leading to $3.8 billion in annual retail gross sales globally in 2022. Because it seems, the popular culture icon additionally has a ardour for vogue: over time, Sanrio has licensed its flagship feline to luxe labels like Balenciaga, Blumarine and Courrèges.

Under, ring in Hi there Kitty’s golden anniversary with a glance again at a number of noteworthy collaborations.

Anteprima

Anteprima has been producing Hi there Kitty and My Melody-inspired purses and charms — constructed from the model’s signature wire wire — for the reason that 2000s. They arrive in numerous styles and sizes, from gargantuan baggage formed like Hi there Kitty herself to smaller silhouettes emblazoned with the character’s face and signature purple bow.

Balenciaga

In 2019, Balenciaga debuted Hi there Kitty purses in collaboration with Sanrio. Their Ville silhouette, proven above on the runway at Balenciaga’s spring 2020 vogue present, was redesigned with the fictional feline’s face, ears and bow, whereas shoelaces made up her whiskers. The Balenciaga and Hi there Kitty Ville got here in three totally different colours — pink, white and black — and in numerous sizes.

The Blonds

The Blonds are recognized for his or her intricate corsetry worn by pop stars similar to Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Chappell Roan. In 2009, the designer duo created a {custom} Hi there Kitty bustier for Katy Perry, which was adorned with crystallized heads depicting the cartoon creature.

Blumarine

In 2021, Sanrio teamed up with Blumarine to launch a Hi there Kitty capsule. Consisting of the model’s early 2000s-inspired staples like embroidered denim and fur-trimmed cardigans, the gathering featured clothes and accessories together with miniskirts, jackets, knitwear, belts and purses.

“Hi there Kitty is an icon of my technology and absolutely represents the 2000s aesthetic to which I’ve been referring for the reason that starting of my path at Blumarine,” former inventive director Nicola Brognano advised WWD. “Hi there Kitty is cute, lighthearted, humorous, worldwide: For that reason, I’m blissful to current this assortment as a world unique on Ssense.com, not a easy e-commerce platform however an actual cultural assembly level with a younger, eclectic and hyper fashionista viewers.”

Courrèges

Courrèges collaborated with Sanrio on a line of Hi there Kitty attire and equipment bought completely in Japan in 2008, encompassing T-shirts, backpacks, beauty circumstances and even digital cameras.

GCDS

GCDS, the Italian model recognized for its kitschy interpretations of beloved franchises like Polly Pocket, Care Bears and Pokémon, has collaborated with Hi there Kitty on a number of events since 2017. They’ve despatched footwear, purses and clothes that includes the cartoon character down the runway, and for her fiftieth anniversary, the model partnered with PAN Milano, a Japanese bakery, to debut Hi there Kitty doughnuts and shokupan.

GK Reid

Within the early days of her fame, Girl Gaga joined forces with Hi there Kitty for her thirty fifth anniversary. The marketing campaign featured the pop star wearing designs impressed by the Sanrio figurehead, all custom-made by inventive director and designer GK Reid.

Memorably, Gaga wore a robe made from plush Hi there Kitty dolls, which Reid and his group put collectively in simply three hours. It’s since been exhibited on the Museum of Standard Tradition in Seattle and the Museum Volkenkunde within the Netherlands.

Heatherette

Heatherette, the label cofounded by Membership Child Richie Wealthy and Traver Rains, collaborated with Hi there Kitty for a number of seasons, together with in 2004, when she celebrated her thirtieth anniversary. Heatherette revealed purses, attire, skirts, pants and extra printed with Hi there Kitty graphics.

“[Hello Kitty is] this iconic creature that for me wasn’t restricted to seven-year-old women,” Wealthy advised WWD in 2003. “She’s nearly an extension of the Warholian thought of fame,” Wealthy added, though going well beyond Warhol’s ’quarter-hour.’”

JimmyPaul

JimmyPaul, the Amsterdam-based label recognized for its kitschy, colourful fashions impressed by the Japanese kawaii aesthetic, debuted a Hi there Kitty assortment in 2019. The model’s spring 2020 assortment, offered at London Trend Week, included Japanese design parts like kintsugi (repairing damaged pottery) and furoshiki (reward wrapping).

“I’m honored and privileged to work with Sanrio and such an iconic character like Hi there Kitty,” inventive director Jimmy Paul, who’s designed seems to be for Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, mentioned in a press release on the time. “That is actually a dream come true.”

Judith Leiber

Because the 2000s, purse designer Judith Leiber has collaborated with Hi there Kitty on a number of events, together with for the character’s thirtieth and thirty fifth anniversaries. The model translated Hi there Kitty’s acquainted determine into its signature crystallized clutches, which got here in a number of silhouettes, similar to minaudières, top-handle purses and zip-up pouches.

In 2005, Leiber teamed up with one other Hi there Kitty collaborator, Kimora Lee Simmons, and her firm Simmons Jewellery Co. to create a one-of-a-kind clutch encrusted with 17 carats of white and black diamonds and over 200 carats of peridot, amethyst and pink sapphire stones. Valued at $125,000, it was auctioned off for charity as a part of a profit hosted by Nelly and his nonprofit, 4Sho4Kids.

Leaf Xia

Chinese language designer Leaf Xia mixed her love of daring graphics and texture with Hi there Kitty’s nostalgic aesthetic for her fall 2019 assortment, together with outerwear, attire and hoodies.

Kimora Lee Simmons

Kimora Lee Simmons first launched a line of Hi there Kitty jewellery as a part of a partnership between Sanrio and Simmons Jewellery Co. in 2005. The gathering, which featured 24 designs, plastered diamonds, citrine and onyx stones onto Hi there Kitty’s iconic picture, crafted in 18-karat gold, sterling silver and enamel. The vary, bought at Neiman Marcus, consisted of allure bracelets, earrings and pendants priced from $300 to $3,000.

In 2006, Simmons expanded the road, revealing six new nice jewellery items — costing $20,000 to $80,000 — crafted from 18-karat white gold. Accents on necklaces, rings, earrings and watches included a brushed yellow gold nostril and a bow of shiny rose gold and pink diamonds perched on the feline’s ear. Britney Spears famously wore the $50,000 Kimora Lee Simmons for Hi there Kitty pendant in her music video for “Do Somethin,’” although items from the gathering had been additionally worn by Rihanna and Paris Hilton.

“The brand new items are actually items I initially designed for myself and put on daily,” Simmons advised WWD in 2006. “They’re the KLS particular. We by no means thought we’d promote Hi there Kitty at excessive worth factors, however we’ve been getting a fantastic response to dearer items, so we thought we’d give this a attempt. In spite of everything, Hi there Kitty is an actual diamond diva.”

Soulland

The sustainable Copenhagen-based label Soulland debuted Hi there Kitty-printed clothes as a part of their spring 2023 assortment. The whimsical vary consisted of coordinating units, button-ups, T-shirts, attire and extra. “Every bit captures a novel tackle the traditional character, with a mixture of fashionable fashion and nostalgic attraction,” the model’s verbiage reads.

Tarina Tarantino

Designer Tarina Tarantino grew up with Hi there Kitty, main her to launch a collaboration with Sanrio in 2003. Recognized for her Swarovski-speckled costume jewellery and hair equipment, Tarantino nonetheless manufactures the Hi there Kitty x Tarina Tarantino line.

“I used to be utterly excited as a result of I’ve at all times been a Hi there Kitty freak,” Tarantino advised WWD in 2003. “I’ve been shopping for the stuff since 1976, once I was 6. I nonetheless verify eBay for stuff. However there’s each sort of Hi there Kitty jewellery conceivable. It was a problem arising with one thing that they haven’t already made.”

Tarantino’s enamel cameo jewellery depicts the character with scorching pink tresses impressed by the designer’s personal signature hairdo. Celebrities together with Cameron Diaz, Dakota Fanning and Nicky Hilton have been noticed in Hi there Kitty x Tarina Tarantino items over time.

“The thought was, ‘What if Hi there Kitty is as obsessive about me the way in which I’m together with her?’” she mentioned.