Everything you need to know about péro’s collaboration with Hello Kitty

The nostalgic and joyous worlds of péro and Hello Kitty come together at the Lakmē Fashion Week X FDCI 2024, as designer Aneeth Arora presents an eclectic Spring/Summer’25 collection in collaboration with the global icon. Titled Hello péro!, the collection evokes childlike innocence and celebrates iconography through exquisitely handcrafted clothes and accessories. One of the best storytellers in fashion, Arora reimagines Hello Kitty and her staples—from iconic bows, apples, and cherries, to doughnuts and cupcakes—through the playfulness of Japanese Harajuku street style. As a celebration of two milestones—the 15th birthday of péro and the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty, the collaboration extends beyond the showcase in a one-of-a-kind exhibition that merges wondrous elements from both the universes. Think interactive colouring pod, the journey of Hello Kitty through various storytelling cues, and péro’s “Cottage Core Kawaii” design aesthetic on display—it promises to be an immersive experience for the visitors. 

Talking about the collaboration, COO Sanrio (the parent company of Hello Kitty)—EMEA, India, and Oceania, Mr Men—Worldwide, Silvia Figini shares, “Sanrio partners exclusively with brands that share our core values of friendship and kindness. We are thrilled to partner with Péro on one of our first collaborations in India, as they truly understand the essence of the Hello Kitty brand and its universe.”
 
In a free-wheeling chat, Arora takes us through the makings of this collection and her experience of collaborating with Sanrio. 

Harper’s Bazaar: How did this collaboration come into being? 

Aneeth Arora: I am a strong believer that the universe brings people together, and that is the force behind making things happen. Hello Kitty was not something we approached, it was just a thought. Back during the Covid pandemic, I watched a documentary called The Toys That Made Us, and came across an episode on Hello Kitty. It’s there where I learnt a lot about the humble icon, her journey, and her philosophies. She stands for strong bonds, and the bow signifies connection. Hello Kitty’s purpose is to spread love and joy. She doesn't have a mouth, which means believing in the actions and letting the work speak. I resonated with her deeply. Also, there was a line by Sanrio that goes like this “small gift, big smile”—it stayed with me. And then cut to 2024, Hello Kitty is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and they were looking for someone from the fashion world in India to collaborate with. It’s very fortunate that they chose péro for it. 

HB: How long did it take to put this collection together?

AA: Any season at péro takes two years to shape up and that includes an intensive research process. We started working on the Spring/Summer ’25 collection two years ago, but then Hello Kitty came to us with this collaboration opportunity eight months ago. While this was exciting for us, it did bring forth the challenge to mix our already ongoing works of S/S ’25 with the new Hello Kitty theme. But I think it worked out seamlessly. Fortunately, the colours that we had chosen for the season, like the blue, red, white, and pink, were already the colours of Hello Kitty. And, it took a beautiful shape towards the end. 

HB: What were the reference materials you had to go through for this collection? 

AA: Thanks to the documentary, I had learnt a lot about the world of Hello Kitty. So, upon confirmation of this collaboration, it was more like an induction programme for the team where we made them watch the documentary and started researching about the global icon. Sanrio shared a lot of style guides with us to go through. We decided to approach it as inviting people into the world of Hello Kitty reimagined in the péro way—using elements from Hello Kitty's world and rendering it with our techniques, from prints, embroidery, weaves, to the signature red checks and stripes.

As a team, we ensured to look into everything else that has happened around Hello Kitty so far, the kind of collaborations, fashion outtakes, etc. It helped us to see how various designers have interpreted Hello Kitty through their work and got on to creating something, which is péro’s way of showing Hello Kitty to the world.

HB: How did you come up with the name for the collection, Hello péro? What are the highlights of the same?

AA: It's a very simple and innocent one. It's almost like Hello Kitty comes to India and says hello to péro. And, we just thought that this would be the easiest way of summarising the collaboration. We've done a range of limited edition jackets with young and fresh styling, added with a mix of feminine and androgynous silhouettes, and our signature embroideries. We've captured all the elements of Hello Kitty. A few of the jackets are referred to as Hello Kitty Wonderland since they highlight everything about the global icon.

HB: The past few years have witnessed the rise of creative collaborations in fashion. What are the aspects that, according to you, make or break a creative collaboration in fashion?

AA: It requires a lot of respect from both ends because it's two brands coming together and each brand has their own philosophy and protocols. Then comes understanding and creative freedom. It’s all interconnected—if you have respect for a brand, you will let them have creative freedom. The key to a successful collaboration is to have confidence in the collaborator or the person you're collaborating with. If the efforts are made from both ends, the sum is much bigger than its parts. 

HB: How did you ensure péro’s distinct design sensibilities and Hello Kitty’s global popularity shine through this collection, without overshadowing each other? Did you have to navigate creative differences with Sanrio?

AA: There were a lot of overlaps in the philosophies, beliefs, and the fact that both the brands are about fun, nostalgia, and innocence. At péro, we always like to keep the child within us alive and have fun with what we are doing, and when we present ourselves—we want people to have fun with us. In a way, it was not very challenging to crack this collaboration, but, of course, it took us a while to understand the dos and don'ts because Hello Kitty has been around for 50 years. I'm sure they've had their share of ups and downs where people have copied them. So they are extremely careful, and the rulebook is quite big. 

Initially, it was a little overwhelming as we had to take approvals for everything, but eventually I understood that for a brand this old, these protocols are of essence. It was very important for us to follow them because, at the end of the day, we are representing it together. As a team, we understood how to represent Hello Kitty in the best possible way, as we had to respect the shape, the proportions, and a lot of other things that we had to keep in mind. It has been a fun ride, and we've managed to overcome the challenges that we faced at the beginning of this journey.

HB: How did you zero down on the textiles, colour palette, prints, and surface ornamentations used in this collection? 

AA: Since the season was in the making, one of the few things that we were looking at was ‘cottagecore’. We were working with our signature checks, and sailor stripes as the core colour palette was white and blue. There was no red in it. And then Hello Kitty came about, then red kind of started overpowering since white and blue were very subtle. So it's a mix of both blue and white now balanced equally. The stripes have been woven in Mashru. The collection also features gingham checks from West Bengal, stripes and checks in Chanderi from Madhya Pradesh. When it comes to embroidery techniques, we've worked with the age-old techniques like French knots and satin stitch. Also, since Hello Kitty is playful and her colourful world includes cupcakes, cherries, strawberries, and apples, we did mixed media and three dimensional embroideries to showcase the same.

We played a lot with bows—from origami, embroidered bows to knotted ones. Heart is a common feature between Hello Kitty and péro. There are origami hearts. Even in our crochet, we introduced red and blue stripes and checks. We have dabbled in the play of patterns from the Hello Kitty world interpreted in our own way. There are charms highlighting the little elements of Hello Kitty, whether it's a doughnut or a cupcake, apples or cherries. The cute little elements made it easy for us to convert them into charms that are added to the clothes in multiple ways. We have used them to adorn our accessories and upcycle them. You will find them hanging from bags and socks. We have taken inspiration from the trend of Jibbitz, where you can create your own charms and decorate your shoes. The collection reflects a very young vibe, and there are a lot of these fresh Gen-Z concepts that we have adapted to. 

HB: The collection features clothes, accessories, and handcrafted floral bedsheets highlighting a new concept, “Cottage Core Kawaii”. Please take us through this concept and the vision behind it.

AA: I think we are all aware that since Covid, there has been this whole new culture of DIY or ‘cottagecore’, where people started making different things from items lying around in their homes. They started experimenting with home textiles, like bedsheets, tablecloths, or curtains, to create beautiful things. This was the core concept for S/S ’25 that was already in the making. And when this collaboration took place, I thought it'll be a perfect marriage of ‘cottagecore’ and ‘Kawaii’. Thanks to Kawaii and Hello Kitty, there is this whole Harajuku take on the way we styled the show and the references we drew. The Japanese culture of dressing and Harajuku has many facets, from punk, dark, to cute. We are looking at the cute side of it for the season. The fact that we could mix our Indian textiles, handwoven checks, and Calcutta hand-embroidered bedsheets with a character like Hello Kitty, makes a perfect “Cottage Core Kawaii” collaboration.

péro is synonymous with ‘grandma core’. We do crochet, knitwear, and hand embroideries. It’s in the DNA of our brand. When mixed together with an iconic character like Hello Kitty, it just takes it to another level. This terminology was coined unconsciously, it came to us as I thought the season would be “Cottage Core Kawaii” and everything fell into place. 

HB: Some of your favourite pieces from the collection…

AA: I have put an equal amount of love in the collection. All the pieces that tell the story of Hello Kitty holistically are the ones that I am kind of more inclined towards. Those are the most playful ones from the collection. But then there are very simple pieces where there is just a little hand embroidered Hello Kitty on a very crisp white shirt, which I know people will wear a lot. So, again, it's like two extremes. We have an over the top jacket embroidered with 3D elements of Hello Kitty. 

HB: How do you foresee the future of fashion collaborations in India? 

AA: We have been collaborating with our craftspeople since ages. And it's not a new concept for us at péro because we always felt that they are our collaborators. And it's never like we are providing them work or livelihood. Collaborations started for us long back, when we didn't have a global reach, or when we didn't know a lot of people. It is with time and in these 15 years, we've come across a lot of people and that's how our past and present collaborations have come into being. The world is shrinking, and it has become easier for people to find a perfect match for themselves to collaborate with. I think the future of collaborations is extremely bright, not just in fashion, but also otherwise. 

All images: pero

The exhibition opens on October 19 until November 1.

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