I must admit, before my wife and I had a daughter, Hello Kitty was some abstract Japanese brand that didn’t mean anything to me. The expressionless kitty logo with sprouting whiskers, red bow tie and beady black eyes didn’t have a TV show and wasn’t voiced by a famous actress in a billion-dollar movie franchise.
It seemed to me that she was a genius branding gimmick.
After we had our daughter Grace, who is 5 now, I wasn’t dissuaded of this thought. Gracie grew to love Hello Kitty. Well, I should say she seemingly came out of the womb loving Hello Kitty. Like the color pink and dolls, Hello Kitty seemed to be encoded in her DNA.
After exploring the new Hello Kitty exhibit at Seattle’s EMP Museum this past week, I found out this wasn’t far off. Founded by Shintaro Tsuji, or “Papa” Tsuji, Sanrio, the parent company of Hello Kitty, was created as an empire of happiness. Out of Tsuji’s belief that things sold better when they had a decorative element — Tsuji experimented with this as the owner of a silk manufacturer in the 1960s — Hello Kitty was born.
“Hello Kitty connects on a deeper level. They call it kawaii,” said David Marchi, vice president of brand management and marketing at Sanrio, referring to the level of cuteness that can, at times, Marchi said, be unbearable.
“It’s so cute,” Marchi continued, motioning his hands frantically toward a Hello Kitty backpack, “that you can’t handle it. It goes beyond adorable and cuteness.”
Hello Kitty’s first appearance was on a small vinyl coin purse in 1975. She’s wearing a blue jumper with a red bow tie and staring at the viewer. Above her head is the word, “Hello!” Since, Hello Kitty has undergone thousands of permutations, adding pink in 1992, grabbing a boyfriend, Dear Daniel, in 1999, and collaborating with popular fashion brands in 2009.
The exhibit, “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty,” was first on display from October of last year until April at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. Marchi worked with EMP Museum curator Jacob McMurray to bring the exhibit to life in Seattle.
Not the original, but a replica of the vinyl purse greets visitors in the first portion of the exhibit, right after visitors take selfies in front of “Super Space Titan Kitty,” Florida artist Colin Christian’s 10-foot tall sculpture that mixes Hello Kitty with sci-fi, anime and pinup girl aesthetics.
With more than 500 pieces on display from Sanrio’s archives and close to 35 original pieces of art, the exhibit is a mix of historical Hello Kitty pieces, unusual co-branded Hello Kitty items, celebrity and everyday outfits — for men and women — and avante garde mixed-media art pieces, like Christian’s.
The evolution of Hello Kitty is a big part of the exhibit. A wall of Hello Kitty plush dolls through the years, from the very first one to the most recent doll unveiled in 2015, greets visitors walking to the second floor of the exhibit. There’s also a timeline, a wall of distinctive backpacks that Hello Kitty has graced and hundreds of products — from toasters to toilet paper — that Hello Kitty has endorsed, unsmilingly.
“The history stuff really connects with the moms and the grandmoms, who say ‘I had this when I was a kid,’ ” Marchi said.
One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit, and perhaps why the pop culture exhibit is at EMP, are the flashes of celebrity culture that were a big reason for Hello Kitty’s explosion in popularity in the new millenium. Visitors can see the Hello Kitty dress that Lady Gaga was photographed in, along with pictures of Cameron Diaz, Tyra Banks, Britney Spears and more donning Hello Kitty products.
“The celebrity sightings really catapulted the brand into a whole new arena,” Marchi said.
One celebrity piece has a local connection. Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic is lending his pink Hello Kitty guitar to the exhibit. There is also a picture in the exhibit of Courtney Love playing a pink Fender Stratocaster with Hello Kitty’s face emblazoned between the bridge and the neck.
A few of the other pieces and exhibits not to be missed include “Kittypatra,” a giant sculpture by Italian artist Simone Legno that puts Hello Kitty in the place of the famous Egyptian pharoah, the adult-themed Hello Kitty pieces that include the Kitty’s visage on wine and dolls with Playboy logos, and the different Hello Kitty co-branding items, which includes Hello Kitty KISS dolls (complete with tongue sticking out).
Marchi said that a big part of the allure of Hello Kitty is that she didn’t start as a character in a show, movie or book. She’s timeless.
“There is a Hello Kitty for everyone. It appeals to all kinds of people,” Marchi said.
Aaron Swaney: 425-339-3430; aswaney@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @swaney_aaron79.
If you go
Seattle’s EMP Museum is hosting the first large-scale Hello Kitty museum retrospective, “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty,” from Nov. 14 through May 15, 2016. For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.empmuseum.org.
Time After Time Capsule: Curators of the exhibit are encouraging visitors to bring personal objects, postcards or other items to add to Sebastian Masuda’s 9-foot-tall sculpture of Hello Kitty. The time capsule was on display in New York before arriving in Seattle and will journey to other cities before eventually arriving in 2020 for the Tokyo Olympics.
Hello Kitty Cafe Truck: Billed as a mobile vehicle of cuteness that offers “yummy” macarons, “delicious” mini cakes, Hello Kitty cookies and more, the Hello Kitty Cafe Truck will make an appearance in Seattle on Nov. 14 and 15. The truck will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday and will be located in the EMP Museum’s North Plaza, 325 5th Ave N, Seattle.
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