Sanrio Luxe Tartan bag

 It’s Hello Kitty mania since Sanrio Luxe Greenbelt 5 opened this year and all around the world die hard fans are looking to Japan, the home of the famous feline, for the latest finds. Luckily, a few of the latest items has so far trickled in to the G5 store, some of the other stuff though we can only find and salivate over at Hello Kitty’s official website www.kitty35.com.

 If there’s any other reason at all that I would want to go to Japan, other than its famous sites and the outlandish urban streetwear in Harajuku district, it would be the Hello Kitty Museum. Hello Japan! Okay, I need a visa and loads of moolah.

Hello Kitty 35th anniversary watch

Wonderful Japan is also home of Kyosho World Cup, Tamiya, Intial D (from which drifting became so known for) and anything and everything anime. It is probably the only place in the world where grown men and woman become boys and girls once again, as it holds so many attractions that bring us back to our childhood days– Voltes V, Mazinger Z, Bioman, etc. If you grew up in the 80’s as I am, you can relate to afternoons spent watching every Japanese anime cartoon series on Saturday Fun Machine. Remember Astroboy? He is on the anime radar once again and some of the kids I know are surprised when I tell them that Astroboy has been around for, like, 20 years already. Count from the time when it started as a manga series in Japan in 1952 and you will realize Astroboy is nearing 50 years old! Definitely, not a boy any more.

Going back to Hello Kitty, I remember a time when anyone in class who owns Sanrio items, Hello Kitty or My Melody, such as pencil cases, bags, etc.  were instant celebs as they are so so expensive and cute. Now that I’m a grown woman, I still could not shake off my enthusiasm for Hello Kitty so it was a brilliant idea to open Sanrio Luxe at Greenbelt 5.

Tokidoki Boston bag

However, not since the Tokidoki collection’s unveiling has there been such a resugence in interest, from the 30’s age bracket and above, in Hello Kitty. Tokidoki (”sometimes” in Japanese) is the Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand created in 2005 by Italian artist Simone Legno. It produces apparel, footwear, accessories and other products using art, iconic characters and the tokidoki logo designed by Legno himself, including purses, t-shirts, vinyl figures, jewelry and small toys. This high-end urban underground fashion has grown to be a leading trend and has already collaborated with some of the biggest brands in the world such as Levi’s, Mikasa, Fujitsu, Asics,  Smashbox, Lesportsac and recently, Hello Kitty in 2008. Since then, Hello Kitty has gone black, even hot pink, to cater to the grown up crowd.

Who knew that what began in Japan in 1974 as a coin purse would blossom into a global phenomenon? An interesting trivia: the worldwide theme for Hello Kitty’s 35th anniversary is the  Hello Kitty Colors: red for friendship, pink for cute, yellow for heartful, green for wish and lavender for sweet. The message of each color is reflected in Hello Kitty’s trademark bow, which has become super-sized for the occasion. These colors convey the very essence of Hello Kitty that has made her so special to fans and friends for so long.