One of the stranger fashion phenomenons, the Japanese Hello Kitty fashion and licencing brand turns 35 and design celebrations are under way. The fashion brand featuring the pink kitty has not only survived but is in fact thriving in this economy. After 35 years in business the brand is earning over 5 billion dollars  per year on all its products. Starting out as something that appealed to little girls, the fashion brand grew up with it’s shoppers.

WWD reports on the phenomenon of THE CAT:

“Hsu said Hello Kitty products rake in worldwide sales of more than $5 billion annually. “A huge percentage of that is in the fashion category,” she explained, adding the brand is seeing “tremendous strength” in fine jewelry. The company declined to break down sales by product category.

Over the years, Hello Kitty’s image has graced almost every conceivable product, from scented erasers to Fender guitars. She has two theme parks in her native Japan and there is even a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital in Taiwan. At Sanrio headquarters in Tokyo, visitors sip Hello Kitty’s own brand of green tea out of Hello Kitty cups as they sit in Hello Kitty chairs.

In recent years, Hello Kitty’s reach has extended beyond young girls to stylish women, who shop the brand both for themselves and their daughters. Hello Kitty’s fashion quotient has increased through a bevy of collaborations with firms such as Christian Dior, Heatherette, Anna Sui and A Bathing Ape. Her celebrity following includes Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus.”

Kimora Lee Simmons will be just one of the designers lending her design expertise for the birthday celebrations, in this case to a themed iPhone cover. Others include a one-of-a-kind necklace by Swarovski, special-edition sneakers by Asics and designs by Judith Leiber, just to name a few.

Tags: hello kitty, japanese fashions, kimora lee simmons, purses

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Fashion News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.