Hello Kitty
, also known by her full name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a young female "gijinka" (anthropomorphization) of a Japanese Bobtail cat with a red bow and no mouth. According to her backstory, she is a perpetual third-grade student who lives outside of London. Kitty and her twin sister, Mimmy (depicted with a yellow bow), celebrate their birthday on 1 November. Since the character's creation in 1974, the Hello Kitty media franchise has grown to include clothing , accessories, toys, games, books, manga, anime series, and music albums, along with other various product lines and media productions. The Hello Kitty vinyl coin purse was introduced by Sanrio in March 1975. Sanrio brought the character to the United States in 1976. By 2010, Sanrio had turned Hello Kitty into a global marketing phenomenon, worth a year. By 2014, when Hello Kitty was 40 years old, she was worth about a year. "Hello Kitty" has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Hello Kitty is a staple of the "kawaii" segment of Japanese popular culture. First  marketed toward pre-teenage girls, Hello Kitty's image found commercial success among not only her original target audience but adolescent and adult consumers as well. A variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories to motor oil have featured the character over the years. A number of Hello Kitty TV series targeted towards children have been produced, as well as several manga comics and anime films. There are Sanrio theme parks based on Hello Kitty: Harmonyland in Hiji, Ōita, Japan; Sanrio Puroland in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan; and the former Sanrio Hello Kitty Town in Iskandar  Puteri, Johor, Malaysia. History. Origins. In 1962, Shintaro Tsuji, founder of Sanrio, began selling rubber sandals with flowers painted on them. Tsuji noted the profits gained by adding a cute design to the shoes and hired cartoonists to design cute characters for his merchandise. The company produced a line of character merchandise centered around gift-giving occasions. Hello Kitty was designed by Yuko Shimizu and was added to the lineup of early Sanrio characters in 1974. The character's first appearance on an item was in March 1975 on a vinyl coin purse sold in Japan, where she was pictured  sitting between a bottle of milk and a goldfish bowl. She first appeared in the United States in 1976 when Sanrio opened a Gift Gate store in San Jose, California. Sanrio decided to make Hello Kitty British because foreign countries, including Britain in particular, were trendy in Japan at the time of Hello Kitty's creation. Sanrio already had several characters set in the US, and it wanted Hello Kitty to be different. Shimizu got the name "Kitty" from Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass"; during a scene early in the book, Alice plays with a cat she calls  Kitty. Sanrio's motto is "social communication," and Tsuji wanted the brand name to reflect that by including a greeting. He first considered "Hi Kitty" before finally settling on "Hello Kitty," her current name. Commercial success. Hello Kitty sold well immediately after her 1975 launch, and Sanrio's sales increased sevenfold. Due to Japan's growing economy, many Japanese children could afford to buy Hello Kitty products. Her popularity has also been attributed to the emergence of "kawaii" culture, which embraces cuteness. Originally, Hello Kitty was only marketed towards a child and preteen audience. In the 1990s, the target market  for Hello Kitty was broadened to include teenagers and adults as a retro brand. Marketing to those who could not get Hello Kitty merchandise as children, and those who fondly remember items they had, Sanrio began selling Hello Kitty branded products such as purses and laptops. The 1994–1996 "Face" series was the first to be designed specifically for mature consumers. According to Sanrio, Hello Kitty was appearing on 12,000 new products each year as of 1999. By 2008, Hello Kitty was responsible for half of Sanrio's $1 billion net income, and there were over 50,000 different Hello Kitty  branded products in more than 60 countries. Beginning in 2007, following trends in Japan, Sanrio began using darker designs for Hello Kitty with more black and less pink and pulled away from "kawaii" styles. Hello Kitty and Mimmy celebrated their 40th anniversary on 1 November 2014. The "Arigato Everyone Birthday Celebration" took place in Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo for several days. In Los Angeles, a four-day convention, Hello Kitty Con, was also held in celebration of the anniversary. The convention attracted over 25,000 fans. Design. Spokespeople for Sanrio have confirmed that Hello Kitty has no mouth, as they want  people to "project their feelings onto the character" and "be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." Another explanation Sanrio has given for Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth is that she "speaks from the heart. She's Sanrio's ambassador to the world and isn't bound to any particular language." Representatives for Sanrio have said that they see Hello Kitty as a symbol of friendship, which they hope she will foster between people across the world. There has been speculation that Hello Kitty has her origins in "Maneki Neko"—the name "Hello Kitty" is a back-translation of  Maneki Neko, meaning "beckoning cat" in English. Despite this, no definitive statement supports that speculation. New series involving Hello Kitty with different themed designs are released regularly, following current trends. Yuko Yamaguchi, the main designer for most of Hello Kitty's history, has said that fashion, movies, and TV inspire her in creating new designs. Products. Originally aimed at the pre-adolescent female market, the Hello Kitty product range has expanded from dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, backpacks, lunch boxes, piggy banks, pencils, erasers, accessories, school supplies and stationery to purses, toasters, televisions, other home appliances, massagers, and computer equipment . These products range from mass market items to high-end consumer products and rare collectibles. , more than 50,000 Hello Kitty product lines were available in over 130 countries. High-end. Sanrio and various corporate partners have released Hello Kitty-branded products, including the Hello Kitty Stratocaster electric guitar (since 2006, with Fender in the US) and an Airbus A330-200 commercial passenger jet airliner, dubbed the Hello Kitty Jet (2005–2009, with EVA Airways in Taiwan). In late 2011 and early 2012, EVA Air revived their "Hello Kitty Jets" with their three new A330-300s. However, due to high demand, the  airline added two more alongside their existing A330-200s in mid-2012. A year later, EVA Air introduced one of their 777-300ERs as another Hello Kitty Jet, which featured other Sanrio characters as well as Hello Kitty. In 2009, Hello Kitty entered the wine market with a collection of four wines available for purchase online, continuing the expansion of product lines targeted at older audiences. Jewelry. In Spring 2005, Simmons Jewelry Co. and Sanrio announced a partnership. "Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty" was launched exclusively at Neiman Marcus, with prices ranging from $300 to $5000. Designed by  Kimora Lee Simmons and launched as the first in a series of collections, the jewelry was hand-made and consisted of diamonds, gemstones, semi-precious stones, 18 karat gold, sterling silver, enamel, and ceramic. In Fall 2008, Simmons Jewelry Co. and Sanrio introduced a collection of fine jewelry and watches named "Hello Kitty® by Simmons Jewelry Co." The collection launched with Zales Corporation to further expand the reach of the brand, developing accessories for a wide variety of Hello Kitty fans. Meant to attract a youthful audience, the Hello Kitty-themed designs consisted of colorful gemstones set in sterling  silver. Establishments. There is a themed restaurant named Hello Kitty Sweets in Taipei, Taiwan, which opened in 2008. The restaurant's decor and many of its dishes are patterned after the Hello Kitty characters. Another restaurant called the Hello Kitty Diner opened in the Chatswood area of Sydney, Australia, and a Hello Kitty dim sum restaurant opened in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Hello Kitty cafés have opened around the world, including in Seoul and other locations in South Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; Adelaide, Australia; Irvine, California; and the Santa Anita Mall in California. In 2008, a Hello Kitty-themed maternity hospital opened  in Yuanlin, Taiwan. Hello Kitty is featured on the receiving blankets, room decor, bed linens, birth certificate covers, and nurses' uniforms. The hospital's owner explained that he hoped that the theme would help ease the stress of childbirth. In 2014, Sanrio partnership with Dufan to introduced Hello Kitty Adventure a cinema based attraction takes guest in journey travelling around the world including many Indonesia Famous Heritage. At the end of the attraction, there is a few photo op that guest can take a picture with many Hello Kitty characters. Hello Kitty is included as part of the Sanrio livery  at the Japanese theme parks Harmonyland and Sanrio Puroland. Clothing. In January 2018, Puma collaborated with Hello Kitty to create the new Puma X Hello Kitty For All Time collection, which features the company's signature sneakers for both children and adults. In Fall 2018, Converse collaborated with Sanrio to create Hello Kitty x Converse. This collection includes three of Converse's most popular silhouettes, with the shoes ranging from kids' sizes to size 13 US mens. The collection also includes hoodies, pullovers, t-shirts, and bags. In 2020, Dr. Martens collaborated with Hello Kitty for the second time, the  first being in 2010. This collaboration includes the classic platform boot, oxford, and a platform sandal with Hello Kitty design on the shoes. They also included a Hello Kitty x Dr. Martens Heart Shaped Satchel with this collection. In 2020, Skechers collaborated with Hello Kitty releasing their 'The Skechers Energy' shoe that is a chunky-soled style with the brand’s spell out logo next to Hello Kitty’s face. The 'S' logo has Hello Kitty's signature red bow attached to it. There are several colorways like white, black, pink and red stripes. <ref> Hello Kitty , also