Hello Kitty vs. Barbie

In The New York Times...
Hello Kitty and Barbie, Round 1


" Barbie, who turns 50 next month, is having a runway show on Feb. 14 in Bryant Park, with Barbie-inspired clothes by one group of designers. Hello Kitty was set to show off looks by another group at a party Thursday night given by MAC, which has also created a new Hello Kitty cosmetics collection. Marketing ploys, indeed, but they do raise the question: Who’s the bigger fashionista?

Let’s put it this way: Barbie is to Cindy Crawford what Hello Kitty is to Naomi Campbell. One is the conscientious workhorse of her oeuvre, with a heart of gold (or plastic) and an improbably perfect body; the other is more difficult to read, with a sinister streak lurking behind that sweet, beautiful facade."

Mr. Cortazar was willing to take a side when he was asked which he would prefer to have at his own show.“I would go with Hello Kitty,” he said. “There are enough girls coming to the show who look like Barbies already.”





All of a sudden, I have faith in journalism again. It is a noble profession.