The terrace of Somerset House on Wednesday (January 24) night was one sugar-covered, fluffy trimmed sight to indulge.
The towering building was lit up pink. Rhubarb flavoured, petal filled drinks were passed around. And as for the guests — well, they were a veritable sea of all things adorable. Pikachu tees, strawberry knit beanies, lilac tutus and huge Hello Kitty phone cases (held as handbags) were de rigueur. It was the opening night of London’s seminal Cute exhibition, open from today, and it signaled something of a watershed moment of eye-watering clothes in the capital. Across town, Claudia Schiffer even brought an actual cat to the premiere of the film Argylle.
“Cuteness is undeniably one of the most dominant aesthetics of our modern times,” says the Cute exhibition curator, Claire Catterall. “And it's not only an aesthetic. It makes you feel things, and it makes you do things.” It is for this reason all things candy-coated have been picked up by the industry most dedicated to sparking desire.
No prizes for guessing, but the cult of Hello Kitty is leading the way. As it transpires, Kate Moss isn’t the only It girl to turn 50 this year — the Sanrio cat also celebrating half century, but doing so with a flush of fashion collaborations, not a Mustique retreat.
The best received amongst the fashion set has been GCDS’, which sees Hello Kitty crocheted on bikinis, and worn by Dua Lipa. “In today's internet-dominated era, these items of long-lost playfulness transform into obsessions for many,” says the brand’s designer and co-founder Giuliano Calza, who is also known for crystal embroidering SpongeBob SquarePants on his gowns. “I enjoy creating for the future and not looking only at the past, feeling an excitement deeply rooted in the culture I've experienced. This energy, I think, is what draws people in.”
In 2024, expect Hello Kitty sightings on Crocs and Cambridge Satchel Company bags, both of which launched collaborations early this year. The latter’s CEO, Carine de Koenigswarter, says “just as Hello Kitty brings back cherished memories, our Cambridge Satchel bags are meant to be loved for a lifetime.”
It’s a sense of nostalgia which appears to be the fuel behind the cute-fervor. So much is true for influencer Magda Kaczmarska, who was first in line for the Cute exhibition private view and regularly incorporates the adorable into her feed. “Cute fashion for me is everything that makes me nostalgic, from Hello Kitty to the Pokemon x Fendi collaboration right now,” she says. “People are obsessed with it because it takes them back — it makes everyone feel fuzzy and nice inside. Who doesn’t want to be cute? I’m 28 but I still act like a child sometimes.”
This was Harry Lambert’s (stylist of Harry Styles) thinking when he designed his Cutie Chaos titled Zara collection last November, and S.S.Daley’s concept behind the standout counting sheep cardigan in his AW24 collection, shown this year. A subsection of the fad is sexy-cute, perhaps best encapsulated by Dsquared2’s Betty collab — all cartoon seduction. “To us, Betty Boop is an iconic pin up, an icon of ageless sensuality and a legend of animation,” say founders Dan and Dean Caten.
There appears to be capital gain in it all, too — Emma Hill, Founder & Managing Director of Damson Madder, the brand best known for its ribbon and flower printed t-shirts as well as frill collar shirts, is opening a pop-up in Soho in February. “People want to have more fun, explore and reclaim more feminine elements within fashion,” she says, of trend's rise. “Experimenting with oversized collars, bows, ribbons and other, ultra-feminine elements brings people joy and feels empowering in some way — embracing femininity instead of shying away from it.” The company ended 2023 with a 400 per cent increase in web sales.
When it comes to wearing it yourself, “take a modern approach that doesn’t feel too theatrical. I think most women like the mix of masculine & feminine whilst dressing this way. A whimsical skirt from Cecilie Bahnsen can be toughened up with an oversized knit, or you could style a taffeta blouse from Molly Goddard with wide leg denim from Raey,” says Liane Wiggins, Head of Womenswear at Matches Fashion.
But do remember, with fashion, as in life, — too much of anything can make you sick. One woman wearing a PVC Hello Kitty skirt was carried, stumbling, by two security guards out of the Cute private few after too much fizz. Although that, as Daniel Lismore put it, was “the cutest thing I’ve seen all night.”
