Hello Kitty Designer Yuko Yamaguchi to Converse with Fans at JANM

Sandra Miska

Los Angelenos will have a chance to hear from the women behind the cat when Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi visits the Japanese American National Museum on April 4 for “A Conversation with Yuko Yamaguchi” as part of “Hello! Exploring the Supercute World of Hello Kitty,” the first large-scale Hello Kitty museum retrospective in the United States.

Yuko Yamaguchi was born in Kōchi, Kōchi, Japan and studied industrial design at Joshibi University of Art and Design.  In 1978 she joined Sanrio, the company that has produced Hello Kitty since 1974.  Original Hello Kitty creator and designer Yuko Shimizu left the company in 1976.  In 1980, Yamaguchi became the third designer of Hello Kitty, and has had the job ever since.

Hello Kitty may have turned 40 last year, but according to Yamaguchi, the iconic cat isn’t going to fade into the background anytime soon.  The designer makes sure to integrate contemporary fashion trends into her aesthetic.

“There are new cartoon characters that are coming out daily… (but) I think Hello Kitty is the only one that can adapt to the changes in the world,” Yamaguchi told the AFP last year.  “She is very motivated and open and wants to face the future.”

The fact that Hello Kitty makes Sanrio five billion dollars in retail sales every year is also a sign that the kitty is still going strong.

Yamaguchi is not only Hello Kitty’s designer.  She also promotes herself as being the cat’s best friend, often making public appearances dressed and styled like her character.

“What she does, I do, and what I do, Hello Kitty does.  Right now Hello Kitty is my partner in life,” Yamaguchi is quoted as saying in the book Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty’s Trek Across the Pacific by Christine R. Yano, PhD. Yano is also the curator of the Hello Kitty exhibition.

Following her talk, Yamaguchi will sign copies of the “Hello!” exhibition catalog. Tickets for this event are $16 for members, $20 for non-members.

“A Conversation with Yuko Yamaguchi” will take place April 4 at 2 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum.  For tickets, go here.