The Japanese pop culture brand has had a significant cultural impact over the past few decades.
Is she a cat, or a girl, or just iconography for countless products?
In a new interview withToday, Sanrio executive Jill Cook explains Hello Kitty’s essence.
Hello Kitty is a girl, not a cat.Olivia Wong/FilmMagic
“Hello Kitty is not a cat.
She’s actually a little girl, born and raised in the suburbs of London,” Cook toldToday.
“She has a twin sister Mimmy, who is also her best friend.”
This isn’t the first time that Hello Kitty’s humanity has been insisted upon.
A Los Angeles retrospective of Hello Kitty art inspiredanL.A.
Timesreportabout her origins, and formerEntertainment Weeklywriter Darren Franich was dumbfounded especially by the Charmmy Kitty thing.
“I guess this is sort of a Goofy-Pluto situation?
“Like, same genus but different species?
Like, Kitty White’s ancestors got visited by a Monolith and evolved into Cat-People?”
The mystery persists to this day.
