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Hello Kitty Goes Luxe in Collab with Indian Couture Label péro

Indian designer Aneeth Arora launched the most kawaii collection to grace Lakmé Fashion Week in 2024 with his Hello Kitty-themed line of clothing at his Hello péro runway show October 9. But unlike other designers to grace the runway, Arora's line was accompanied by a two-week-long exhibition that decked out a magnificent bungalow in Delhi's Barakhamba Road with bows, plushies, and general whimsy to celebrate Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary along with péro's 15th.

Taking place from October 19 to October 30, the Hello péro exhibition invited fans and industry personel to marinate in the spirit of the collection, which is a collaboration between Arora's couture label péro and the Sanrio's Hello Kitty. The exhibition flaunted quirk and whimsy around every corner, with a plushie room, a Hello Kitty vanity room, a "how many apples tall are you?" photo booth, a pink gingham food truck, and the most fashionably dressed Hello Kitty mascot roaming the halls for fans to take photos with.

The Economic Times' Retail.com Hello Kitty and Friends line of fine jewelry featuring characters such as Kuromi, Keropi, and Cinnamoroll in yellow gold, rose gold, and white gold.

Everyone's favorite not-a-cat has long had a market presence in India, but with Dream Theater's involvement the Hello Kitty and Friends brand is planning to double its collaborations in the country year-on-year as of 2025. COO of Sanrio Silvia Figini told Retail.com that "India has the potential to become one of the biggest markets for Sanrio." The company is already holding true to its promise with 24 licenses active across several companies in India, which include homegrown favorites like The Souled Store and Bonkers Corner.

Hello x péro collection has been launched across 350 of their outlets in 17 countries and is also available at several third-party boutiques. Arora describes the collection as "a celebration of our collective childhood nostalgia that is reinterpreted in our own whimsical style--a mix of exquisite Indian craftsmanship with the playfulness of Japanese Harajuku Street style.”

péro (not to be confused with Hello Kitty's canine friend "Pero") means "to wear" in the Marwari dialect of Rajasthan. The collection features Indian textiles such as Chanderi from Madhya Pradesh, 'Mashru' from Gujarat, silks from South India, and fabrics woven in Benaras. It also features a "fresh take" on "old-school" crochet techniques as well as linen and gauze-like solid fabrics and Jamdani that the brand developed with weavers from West Bengal. The representatives of péro describe the collection as "Cottage Core Kawaii, which combines the charming cottage core and grandma core aesthetics of bedsheets from Calcutta, Hungary and Europe with delicate laces, embroidery and prints."

Susumu Fukunaga described a similar approach for the company on October 16 at its Pokémon Festivities event stating that it aims "to develop products that all of you can get your hands on [...] including FMCGs" and that it would be "very happy" to speak with Indian producers and come up with collaborations and ideas about the same.

Source: Email correspondence