How I wrote before I’m a huge fan of Nike’s subtle “dedications” to things they don’t actually license, the latest example being a line of Prestos based on Star Wars characters like Boba Fett. Things to come Hello Kitty Sneakers, though, are the real deal.
These have actually been rumored for a while and were first believed to be a long overdue public release of this 2004 collaboration, suppose to see more drops but ended up in the hands of just a few dozen lucky friends and family:
For those not in the history of sneakers, these shoes are pretty infamous! The peach/pink upper was designed by Fragment’s Hiroshi Fujiwara, while the black is done by Steven Smith, the “Godfather” of modern sneaker design with credits from Reebok InstaPump Fury to Nike Zoom Air Spectrum to Adidas’ Yeezy Lines. Had two more color schemes were planned but never made it into productionas Smith recalls in this 2018, the above feature Horror feeling (disclaimer: I wrote for this site):
The Hello Kitty Air Presto was part of a project to celebrate the character’s 30th anniversary in 2004. Initially, according to Smith, the pack was supposed to be a limited release but available. But in the end, an estimated 12 pairs of each color made it to friends and family of Nike and Hello Kitty maker Sanrio. “I’m not sure why they’ve become so restrictive,” Smith said. “The original plan was 500 of each model when the project was first introduced to me.”
It may sound odd to Hello Kitty’s target demographic, but Smith is the ideal candidate to design shoes. “Mark Parker [now Nike CEO, then co-president] know how much I love Japan and Sanrio,” he said. “I would bring my Hello Kitty waffle and make Hello Kitty waffles for everyone once or twice a year just for fun. I bring my lunch every day in a Hello Kitty or Bad Badtz-Maru lunchbox. Looks like I should be working on a special project for Hello Kitty anniversaries. ”
Those rumors, however, have proven to be somewhat misleading as the first images of an officially licensed 2022 collaboration surfaced this week. and they introduced a new design, bordered in blue, and cutest of all, custom insoles featuring Hello Kitty’s face and signature bow.
Besides the shoes, there will also be a clothing line to go with them, including the following shirts:
The entire line is expected to drop on May 2.
