Wednesday March 4, 2009
Crazy for Kitty
By FOO YEE PING
The ultimate girly girl, Hello Kitty is not just a cute face but a sexy siren too.
THAI policemen received global attention in 2007 when news came out that they would have to wear pink Hello Kitty arm bands for coming to work late or other misdemeanours.
The idea was to shame them; macho men and Hello Kitty don’t go together.
Then again, what’s a symbol of shame to some is an icon of cute to millions of young women out there.
American cosmetics company M.A.C (Make-up Art Cosmetics) has teamed up with the pop culture princess, so Japan’s famous icon which has endorsed almost everything from lingerie and boxer shorts to digital cameras is now the face for the brand’s latest collection.
Cute icon Hello Kitty is the new face of M.A.C. The cutie pie has become a glamour puss!
It’s bye-bye Barbie, Hello Kitty. (The cosmetics brand previously launched its successful Barbie Loves M.A.C collection for Spring/Summer 2007.)
But don’t start purring just yet.
“There is a misconception that Kitty is a cat,” said M.A.C Worldwide senior vice-president (creative director) James Gager.
“She is a forever young girl. So we don’t talk to her in cat language. We don’t prowl, purr or anything like that,” he said at the unveiling of the collection in Soho, New York City, last November.
Hello Kitty, he said, transcends age and gender. “Our customer can be someone who is 14 or 75 years old. The person is someone who likes make-up in an offbeat, original way.”
Likewise, the world of Hello Kitty represented street fashion as well as high-end couture.
According to Gager, the collaboration between Hello Kitty and M.A.C was a no brainer.
“It’s an association that will solidify our relationship with the pop culture world. She is well-suited to the DNA of M.A.C,” he said.
Both M.A.C and Hello Kitty are loved throughout the world, and there was thus a great synergy between M.A.C and Sanrio, which designs and distributes “character-branded stationery, school supplies, gifts, and accessories.” It is, of course, best known for Hello Kitty.
As Gager puts it, Hello Kitty has an obssesive fan base. But in case you’re not aware, she lives in London (not in any Asian country as you might have assumed).
“She has no mouth. She speaks from the heart,” he explained.
Her boyfriend’s name is Daniel; she has a twin sister named Mimmy who wears a yellow bow on the right sight of her head while Hello Kitty wears a red bow on the left.
Her height? She is five apples tall and weighs three apples. Though she was born 34 years ago, Hello Kitty is known as an ageless beauty.
M.A.C Worldwide senior vice-president (product development) Jennifer Balbier described Hello Kitty as the ultimate beauty icon.
“I see her as a playful, coquettish girly girl with a rocker edge.
“We wanted to reflect that mysterious quality through a sweet side but also something slightly mischievous when it came to the colours,” she says.
This, she explained, is because everyone has two sides. “We all have more than one person in us, perhaps in what we wear and so forth.”
When the concept of Hello Kitty and M.A.C was presented to a business team from markets such as Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, the response was amazing, said Balbier.
“Oh my goodness, they went crazy!” she said. They wanted to know if they could order more. When the collection was unveiled in New York, grown women in the audience went “oh-so-cute!”
The M.A.C Hello Kitty Colour Collection features, among others, “plush pinks, rich purples, turquoise for extra pop, three-dimensional lickable lips and lashes that were made to bat.”
How about glitter eyeliners? Hello Kitty loves stuff that sparkles. Lip conditioners are available in dusky rose and yellow pink.
There are also the accessories which include make-up bags, vanity cases, brush collections, purse mirrors, beaded bracelets, reusable shopping bags and key-chains.
For a touch of glamour, there’s Hello Kitty Kouture which is a limited edition Swarovski crystal compacts.
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