I was so fortunate to be able to attend the sold-out con going on in Los Angeles this weekend. I love all things "kawaii" (Japanese for cute) and signed up for the convention as soon as I read about it on Sanrio's website. I attended the press preview and VIP party (!) on Wednesday night (more on that to follow) and then went to the Con as a regular participant on Friday. My favorite experience was an all-star panel on Friday with Yuko Yamaguchi, Sanrio Tokyo’s head Hello Kitty designer, and fashion jewelry designer to the stars Tarina Tarantino.
The two first met ten years ago at the time of Hello Kitty’s 30th anniversary, when Tarina designed her first Hello Kitty collection. Tarina, looking suitably kawaii (cute) with her signature bright pink hair, told us that she discovered Hello Kitty in the late 1970’s when her grandparents brought her some small gifts from Japan decorated with the very simple but adorable cat. Soon after, Hello Kitty went on sale in the US and Tarina reminisced about collecting Hello Kitty from a Bullocks (a now defunct department store) display when she was a girl in Los Angeles. “I have to pinch myself” Tarina said, when she thinks that now she designs jewelry collections featuring the iconic figure. She called Yuko her Japanese soul-sister and says she wants to play dress-up in Yuko’s closet some day when she is in Tokyo!
I furiously took notes during the panel so that I could
share some of the fascinating accounts. Here's some of the highlights...
Tarina: Could you tell us
about the back story of Hello Kitty?
Yuko: When I first met
Hello Kitty in 1980, it was two years after I started working for Sanrio. At that time Hello Kitty was not the most
popular Sanrio character. Even I didn’t
think of Hello Kitty as a valuable asset.
At that time, Little Twin Stars was the most popular Sanrio character
and dominated their sales. Sanrio’s
founder was concerned that Hello Kitty’s popularity was not growing, and was
looking for a designer to take on the task of building her brand. But no designer wants to be assigned to a
character that’s not popular. The Sanrio
founder asked all the designers to present new designs for Hello Kitty. I thought that the key to re-invent Hello
Kitty was not the visual, but creating different stories. According to Sanrio’s own newsletter, Hello
Kitty dreamed of becoming a professional pianist, but you never saw her playing
the piano, so that’s what I drew. As a
child I took piano lessons and had a grand piano at my home, so I imagined
Hello Kitty had a grand piano.
I also
imagined that Hello Kitty’s mom was a pianist, and her father must have a
well-paying job to be able to afford that grand piano. I presented the story of Hello Kitty and her
family and then was told that I should be the Hello Kitty designer—not because
I was the best artist but because I had the imagination and was willing to
present my ideas, that’s why I was chosen.
There was a lot of pressure to develop a character that
wasn’t popular. I was talking to Hello
Kitty every day. When did Hello Kitty
talk back? I will never forget in the
fall of 1985 she spoke back to me for the first time. After five years she because the #1 character
at Sanrio. This is what Hello Kitty told
me after five years: “We did it!” At that time I decided to take it up a notch,
for her to be the #1 character in Japan.
But Hello Kitty didn’t say anything.
In the spring of 1997 many years later she became the #1 brand in
Japan...
Hello Kitty has become another form of myself. At that time I wasn’t sure if I was Hello
Kitty or Hello Kitty was me. I made a
promise to make her the #1 character in the world!
Tarina: On the question
that has consumed portions of the Internet lately, as to whether Hello Kitty is
a cat or a girl…
Yuko: Since I met Hello
Kitty, I thought of her as Hello Kitty.
She’s not a cat and she’s not a human.
I just want Hello Kitty to be a role model and the question as to
whether she’s a cat or a human is not relevant.
But I can tell you for sure that Charmmy Kitty (Hello Kitty’s pet cat) is a
cat. Snoopy is a dog—because he only
speaks the language of dogs. So what’s
Mickey Mouse? I don’t think he’s a
mouse, he’s Mickey Mouse. So Hello Kitty
is Hello Kitty and it is my wish to continue to nurture her as a very special
brand.
 |
| Charmmy Kitty |
Tarina: What characters
were you influenced by growing up?
Yuko: As a child I loved
Mickey Mouse and Disney. I always wanted
to go to Disneyland as a child but the US seemed much farther away in those
days. [When I finally went to the United
States and visited Disneyland] I asked Mickey Mouse to autograph my passport. I got into a lot of trouble with immigration!
Yuko concluded by saying that what she wants for Hello Kitty
is not the life that Mickey Mouse lives. "I want her to be a role model—a singer, dancer, and of course,
pianist. Then she can be an actress and
win an Oscar." She also compared Hello
Kitty to Lady Gaga!
More on the con (and more photos) to follow!
More on the con (and more photos) to follow!
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