Art to wear

After 30 years, Hello Kitty has truly come of age as a fashion and design icon. To celebrate the first three decades, Gift Gate Inc. set up a national T-shirt design competition. The competition was open to all ages. The basic requirement was to create something exciting and innovative out of a standard T-shirt provided by the organizers.

The entries poured in from all parts of the country. There were more than 1,000 different designs. The participants were male and female from all walks of life. There were entries from young students, painters, and fashion designers.

All manner of styles and forms was used. Entries were embroidered, knitted, painted, appliquéd, be-ribboned, be-spangled and even be-shelled!

The competition is a testimony to the continuing popularity of Hello Kitty as an image that is part of contemporary life. Likewise, the many designs provide overwhelming proof of the boundless and courageous creativity of Filipinos.

For exhibition purposes, the entries were divided into five sections: Kitty Creativity, Kitty Cameos, Kitty Causes, Kitty Couture and Kitty Concepts.

Hello one-of-a-kind museum

Gift Gate and Smart team up for a one-of-a-kind tie-up in the Hello One-of-a-kind museum featuring the entries of the recently concluded Hello Kitty Design a Tee contest. Over 1,000 unique T-shirt designs personifying the best in Filipino creativity are featured in the museum which is located at the ground floor of Glorietta 2.

Winners include Wintry Snazzy Kitty by Maureen Reeca Cruz who won a prize of P100,000 and Stylized Kitty Slant by Twinkle Feraren who won third prize. Over P300,000 worth of prizes were given away to entries in different categories including Smart and Hello Kitty, Smart Buddy with Hello Kitty, Smart Kid with Hello Kitty and Smart Addict with Hello Kitty. The amazingly difficult task of selecting winners lay in the hands of the board of judges which included Rowell Santiago, Inno Sotto, Ino Manalo and Gift Gate VP Gila Garcia. The winning entries in this first ever Hello Kitty Design a Tee contest did not disappoint anyone in their artistry and innovation. Geraldine Meneses, who designed the second place entry Hello Kitty Shopsville, did such a masterful job with the embroidery of her T-shirt that Inno Sotto himself offered to hire her in his atelier! How’s that for walking away with a grand prize?

The winning T-shirts are scheduled to be auctioned off for charity on ebay and the very best ones may go into commercial production for sale to the public, again with part of the proceeds being donated to charity.

The Hello One-of-a-kind museum is open to the public at the ground floor of Glorietta 2 from Dec. 12 to 30, every day from 12 noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Hello Kitty celebrity auction for charity starts today

To join the ebay auction, go to www.ebay.ph and click on Hello Kitty auctions.

Minimum bid for each celebrity tee is P1,000. Auction period is Dec. 19 to 28, 2004.

If you don’t have an ebay account, you can make your bid at the Hello One-of-a-kind museum in Glorietta 2. Open daily from 12 noon to 6 p.m.