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SANRIO(R), Inc. Announces a New Collaboration to Go MAD For!
LOS ANGELES, July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanrio Global Consumer Products, a
division of SANRIO, Inc. the international product company best known for
Hello Kitty(R), announces Hello Kitty x Mad Barbarians, an inventive and
contemporary collaboration with Japanese design sensations Mad Barbarians(TM).
A design duo whose work is influenced by "pop, rock, cute, and foolish", Mad
Barbarians designers Katsuya Saito and Masumi Ito are amongJapan's most
fantastical emerging artists. This innovative agreement from the newly
created Sanrio Global Consumer Products division builds upon SANRIO's global
brand strategy and capitalizes on Hello Kitty's international status.
"This is one of those collaborations that our designers and hardcore Hello
Kitty fans get super-excited about!" says Dave Marchi, Brand Marketing Manager
for SANRIO. "The look of this line probably won't appeal to every Hello Kitty
fan out there, but those who get it will go crazy for it!"
The Hello Kitty x Mad Barbarians collaboration is an original and
serendipitous partnership that brings a unique look to the Hello Kitty brand.
The fusion of Japanese design, underground art, and SANRIO's iconic imagery
has created a distinctive style and approach for design concepts that
interpret Hello Kitty in the Mad Barbarians' signature style. Product concepts
and merchandising mediums will be utilized in apparel, accessories and
compelling lifestyle products to complement SANRIO's legendary merchandise
mix. The Hello Kitty x Mad Barbarians collaboration will debut in the U.S.
exclusively at specialty retailer Hot Topic for Holiday '08, followed by a
European roll out for Spring '09.
"The combination of Hello Kitty and Mad Barbarians creates a bold new look
fusing pop art and nostalgia with a modern Japanese punk aesthetic," said
Janet Hsu, President of Sanrio Global Consumer Products. "As Mad Barbarians'
work emerges as an imaginative and diverse art style, we are energized to see
how their styles merge with our properties."
The Mad Barbarians artists, Katsuya Saito and Masumi Ito, will be making a
special appearance and autograph signing at Comic-Con from July 24-27. They
will be appearing at the Toy Tokyo and Munky King Booths.
High resolution image available upon request
About SANRIO
SANRIO develops, distributes and licenses a collection of gift, stationery
and fashion accessory items for women of all ages. SANRIO was founded in 1960
based on the concept that a small gift can bring a big smile to a child of any
age. Today, over 50,000 Sanrio-branded items are sold in over 70 countries
around the world. In the Western Hemisphere SANRIO character-branded products
are sold in upwards of 12,000 locations including department, specialty,
national chain stores and over 85 SANRIO boutiques. For more information,
please visit http://www.sanrio.com.
About Mad Barbarians
Mad Barbarians is a Japanese design duo with a love of all pop, rock,
cute, and foolish. Their work has been successfully adapted to advertising,
characters, album covers, clothing, and collectible vinyl figures. They
received attention by producing a figure 'Gas, Curry, and Spice'. Their dream
is to "conquer the world by Mad Characters!" Mad Barbarians has had many
co-brand partnerships inAsia from Kid Robot, Coca Cola & MTV, among others.
Katsuya Saito is from Shiga prefecture and graduated from Osaka Designers
College. Masumi Ito is fromOsaka prefecture and graduated Sozosha College of
Design. They both worked as designers at other firms before creating the "Mad
Barbarians" in 2000.
SOURCE SANRIO
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Copyright © 2009, NewsBlaze,
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