Soulland, the Scandi label founded by Silas Adler and Jacob Kampp Berliner, recruited fashion's favorite feline for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection.
Making her Copenhagen Fashion Week debut, Hello Kitty — the adorable, anthropomorphized cat created by Sanrio — made an appearance on whimsical new offerings from Soulland.
Sporty separates including pink crop tops and matching trousers were printed with the stylish critter, complete with her signature red bow. Merging business and pleasure, a corduroy suit was embroidered with many Hello Kitties, accompanied by bright red hearts (casual Friday, anyone?).
The collaboration isn't the first time Hello Kitty has lived her high fashion fantasy. Last December, Blumarine teamed up with SSENSE to offer a capsule collection starring the character. Rhinestone Hello Kitty chokers and a sequined Hello Kitty butterfly top epitomized early 2000s fashion — pretty apt for a brand that's taken Y2K style to an extreme in recent seasons.
And don't forget Balenciaga's $2,590 Hello Kitty purse, first unveiled at the house's Spring/Summer 2020 runway show.
Kitty has even served as a Nike muse, inspiring Hiroshi Fujiwara and Steven Smith's cat-covered Air Prestos, first released in 2004. In May, Nike re-released the kicks alongside a capsule of matching apparel.
It's clear that fashion has a soft spot for the ever-popular feline, who apparently might not be a cat at all. In 2014, Sanrio issued a correction in response to a Los Angeles Times article characterizing Hello Kitty as the whiskered animal: "Hello Kitty is not a cat," the statement began. "She's a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She's never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature."
What?!
Until Sanrio contacts me personally, I refuse to believe that Hello Kitty is a human girl. After all, "fashion's favorite feline" rolls off the tongue much better than "fashion's favorite feline, who is actually a girl in cat drag."
