Hi Y’all,

Good Fridays, fresh start to a brand new day.

Today taking a bit of a sidestep from the usual. I have for a while been observing the emergence of The Cute in the fashion scene. I remember already back in 04/05, the Looney Tunes were all over the jackets, jeans and shirts. Ah, those were the days. Well today the whole cuteness has been taken into another level.

Takashi Murakami’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton has resultet in many projects that could very well be considered cute. Although his designs such as Monogramouflage were not all that cute, his typical LV designs (usually for the ladies) often are, heh. But that’s the thing, LV cleverly takes the rather popular Cute Theme and turns that into all round campaign.

That’s a very good promotional approach, especially in Japan as according to Saison Research Institute of Japan 94.3 % of Japanese women in their 20′s own LV products. I would like to argue that these same ladies are also the target market for the all so cute anime influenced programs, comics and goods altogether. Still it’s not just the women who take liking of the colorful anime approach, men seem to respond to the World of Murakami as well. For instance, hip hop star Kanye West has worked closely with Mr. Murakami on his album art and web design.

Following the success of the Murakami designs an LV flagship store in Tokyo was changed into a World of Murakami, including plush toys, colors and POS material in line with Murakami’s designs.

The plush toys are also available in retail, so you can get your girlfriend or kids LV creatures instead of the classc teddy bear. Seeing how many high end brands are bringing out kids’ clothing lines I don’t think it’s a surprise that the brands bring out toys as well.

Pictures courtesy of highsnobiety.com

Now, LV is not the only brand bringing out brand character inspired toys and accessories, as brands like Bape have also joined “the Cute”. Bape’s Baby Milo brand has been out for a good minute already, and their recent collaboration with Sanrio brings the all familiar Hello Kitty characters to the Baby Milo gear.

Picture courtesy of highsnobiety.com

Japanese Quolomo brand, have brought out tees and other apparel featuring Hello Kitty and other popular japanese anime characters out ever since their kick start.

The Cute is still in growth and I think people are not yet all that tired of it. In gloomy times, we could all use a bit of color in our lives, heh. Skulls and other more grim designs which have been dominant in the fashion scene worldwide are getting a more comical face lift as well. Just take a look at this Dokuro Ring by Takashi Murakami and Kaikai Kiki.

Picture courtesy of Honeyee.

Well I am sure we have not seen all that The Cute has to offer but that’s all about it for now. I’ll be back with more later and in the meanwhile have a splendid day and great weekend ahead. I’m out, peace…