Hello Kitty is 35 years old

By Daniel Christopher Jones | 12/16/09 - 16:27

Wonderful world of Hello Kitty

35 years ago Ikuko Shimizu, whilst working for Japanese company Sanrio, created a simple vinyl coin purse design - a small cartoon kitten with dots for eyes, a button nose and a red bow underneath one ear. Hello Kitty was born. Little did Shimizu know that her creation, Hello Kitty, would have evolved into a modern day licensing monster that now generates more than $1 billion a year in sales. Hello Kitty, who lives in London, England with her parents and sister, has a vast range of products depicting her image including dolls, stickers, greeting cards, clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and even household appliances.

However, Kitty didn't become popular until the mid-1980s when it started to become more and more a part of childrens' lives in Japan, until its popularity began to spill over to other nations such as the United States. The Japanese anime series 'Hello Kitty and Friends' aired on TV Tokyo in Japan, and CBS in the United States in 1991.

Landing on its feet

The reason for the change in fortune in Japan in the mid-80s was that the original Kitty was targeted to children, but designer Yamaguchi heard from older kids who were drawn to the character, but were embarrassed by its childish quality. So in 1987, Sanrio began to produce a Kitty that might appeal to older audiences.

(Click image to enlarge)

Not even the technology boom of the 1990s could put a stop to this simple cartoon character's success and one of the greatest accolades possible came with the endorsement of Hello Kitty by A-list celebrities such as Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton, who began to accessorize with Kitty in the early 2000s.

The character has truly become an international icon and has relative popularity across every continent, and when you have Kitty-themed weddings and Kitty-theme maternity hospitals, you know you've made it.

As reported by Time magazine, in honor of Kitty's 35th year, Swarovsky have made a Hello Kitty doll studded with 403 pink sapphires and 1939 pieces of white topaz. A 1.027-carat diamond is embedded in her ribbon, while a citrine serves as her nose and black spinels her eyes. Oh, and it costs a cool $150,000.

To the fattest cat in business - happy birthday Kitty!