Happy 35th Birthday, Hello Kitty

Fashionable events surround style icon's big day
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2009 2:11 PM CST
Happy 35th Birthday, Hello Kitty
One Build-A-Bear Workshop version of Hello Kitty is Tropical Hello Kitty.   (Photo: Business Wire)

She can't blow out the candles, but Hello Kitty turns 35 today. Launched by the Japanese greeting card firm Sanrio in 1974, the mute, mysterious feline made her US debut in 1976 and is now an international style icon. "Who doesn't love Kitty?" fashion entrepreneur Kimora Lee Simmons asks. "Everyone from Paris Hilton to me, to Kelly Ripa, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Tyra Banks, Iman. I mean everybody loves Kitty."

Hello Kitty isn't as always as innocent as she looks—a since-discontinued "shoulder massager" enjoyed a brief heyday as an, ahem, marital aid—but her popularity shows no signs of waning. An Italian-born artist thrilled to have a piece included in a birthday tribute exhibition tells the Los Angeles Times: "It's a huge honor because Hello Kitty is the most iconic cute character."
(More Hello Kitty stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X