Hello Kitty Fashion Collaborations Through the Years: Balenciaga, GCDS and More [PHOTOS]

Hello Kitty, created in 1974 by Sanrio’s Ikuko Shimizu, celebrates her golden anniversary this year. At 50, the fictional feline is still as relevant as ever, gracing numerous lines of merchandise from home goods to stationary to makeup, raking in $3.8 billion in annual retail sales globally in 2022.

Over the years, labels such as Tarina Tarantino, Balenciaga and GCDS have made Hello Kitty their muse, plastering the character’s iconic face — and signature bow — on designer handbags, footwear, jewelry and clothing.

“Hello Kitty is an icon of my generation and fully represents the 2000s aesthetic to which I have been referring since the beginning of my path at Blumarine,” former creative director Nicola Brognano told WWD in 2021.

Ahead, ring in Hello Kitty’s 50th birthday with a look back at several noteworthy collaborations.