Sex and the kitty

The cat’s out of the bag.

Hello Kitty’s been a busy girl lately. Aside from serving as US children’s ambassador for UNICEF since 1983, she’s inspired celebs like Lisa Loeb, who has an apartment chock full of Hello Kitty merch like the rice cooker with Kitty’s face on the cover. (Loeb is currently endorsing the Hello Kitty guitar.) Mariah Carey’s fashion template seems to have been lifted directly from the feline character’s wardrobe. Cult fashion label Heatherette calls her their muse.

The cute Kitty’s been on everyone’s radar these days. From being the subject of a benefit exhibit for the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York (30 designers will auction frocks inspired by the divine Kitty on eBay) to collaborating on a soon-to-debut makeup line for MAC, the perennially pouty icon may just knock Barbie off her pedestal as the doll du jour.

If Paris Hilton likens herself to Barbie (albeit a sex-tape-plagued Barbie) going so far as to color her Bentley a glaring bubblegum pink and dub it her “Barbie car,” then Hello Kitty’s real life counterpart might be someone like, say, Zooey Deschanel, the quirky actress and hipster sex symbol, with her doe eyes and adorable, slightly off-kilter sense of style.

“I love that there is an innocence about Hello Kitty, but she’s also sexy,” Ungaro designer Esteban Cortazar told The New York Times.

Kitty’s madcap, slightly ‘80s, J-Pop brand of style has experienced a resurgence of late. Barbie’s perma-tanned bikini-clad looks pale in comparison next to the wild cat’s exuberant bow-embellished ensembles.

“In these times, everyone can use a little fun — and a little Kitty,” John Demsey, group president of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc which handles MAC, told WWD. “She may not have a mouth, but she’s going to sell a lot of lipstick,” Demsey joked.

During these dark, financially-depressed days, a little Kitty can go a long way.

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Hello Kitty is available at Gift Gate and Sanrio stores at SM  Megamall B, Sanrio Surprise SM Megamall A, NBS Quezon Ave., Trinoma, Glorietta, Robinsons Ermita, SM Manila, SM Cebu, The Shops at Greenhills, SM North Edsa Annex and Alabang Town Center.

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A kitty for your thoughts. E-mail me at jackieoflash@gmail.com.