​Hello Kitty joins Elephant Parade to paint a Brighter future for elephants

Sanrio, the name behind international icon Hello Kitty, has joined forces with Elephant Parade to create the first-ever collaborative art piece – a stunning 1.5 metre baby elephant statue with a sitting Hello Kitty on top.

Elephant Parade warmheartedly welcomes Hello Kitty and her delightful siblings to join the Elephant Parade’s family of over 1,500 elephant designs to raise awareness and funds for elephant conservation. Both organisations share a desire to create a happier world, encapsulated by Sanrio’s mission: “Small Gift, Big Smile”.

In addition to the life-size art piece, an adorable range of elephant replicas will be produced to celebrate the partnership. The miniature collection consists of 10 new designs for sale with 20% of Elephant Parade’s net profit going toward vital elephant conservation projects run by their charity partner, Elephant Family.

The new replica designs include:

• Hello Kitty Sitting – features Hello Kitty in pink perfection. Available in 10cm, 30cm and 75cm.
• Hello Kitty Sitting Bow Blue and Hello Kitty Sitting Bow Lemon – features Hello Kitty sitting on top of an elephant adorned with her signature red bows in 3D on pop block blue and yellow backgrounds. Available in 10cm, 30cm and 75cm.
• Hello Kitty Happy Christmas – features a festive kitty and cute stockings with Joey peeping out. Available in 10cm, 15cm, 20cm 30cm and 75cm.
• Hello Kitty Pastel Scandinavian – features Hello Kitty with a white base on a soft pastel pantone palate. Available in 10cm, 15cm, 20cm, 30cm and 75cm.
• Hello Kitty Sketchy Angel – features Hello Kitty with playful attitude. Available in 10cm, 15cm, 20cm, 30cm and 75cm.
• Hello Kitty Summer Love - features Hello Kitty with Dear Daniel having fun at the seaside. Available in 10cm, 15cm, 20cm, 30cm and 75cm.
• Hello Kitty Multipack – features three collectables; Hello Kitty and Mimmy on pink, Hello Kitty with flowers and Hello Kitty on yellow. All available in 7cm.

All styles in the collection retail between 1695 THB and 11950 THB and the multipack at 1495 THB. The Hello Kitty <3 Elephant Parade premiere collection will launch on 4th December 2017

Moris Calasso, Licensing Director from Sanrio said: “Elephants are magical creatures and deserve a secure future in our world. Through Hello Kitty’s worldwide appeal, we hope to inspire her supporters to learn more about the plight of the endangered Asian elephant and to introduce a new generation of people to join the movement to support elephant conservation. After all, as Hello Kitty says, “you can never have too many friends!”

Mike Spits, Elephant Parade Founder added: The new Hello Kitty range is a stunning example of the merging of two inspirational stories. Hello Kitty, loved by artists and supporters and Mosha, the inspiration of Elephant Parade, was the first elephant to receive a prosthetic limb. Elephant Parade shares a very important message on the need for elephant conservation and it’s wonderful that with Hello Kitty, together we can carry the conservation message to a wider audience. Cutting edge designs and creative ideas have powered our expositions and also been the backbone of our replica range that allows millions of people to take a symbol of the elephant Parade phenomenon into their homes.

About Elephant Parade

• The Elephant Parade concept was founded by Marc and Mike Spits after they visited the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Thailand, which treats sick and injured elephants. There they saw Mosha, a baby elephant who lost part of her foot when she was only seven months old and through their donations became the first elephant to receive a prosthetic limb. Elephant Parade is committed to Mosha at Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital through an annual donation of at least one million Thai Baht via NGO Elephant Family.
• Elephant Parade is a social enterprise that believes in the power of a global movement to make a happier world through art, business and conservation. Elephant Parade’s worldwide art exhibitions and products put smiles on the faces of millions of people and create awareness and funds for elephant conservation.
• Elephant Parade replicas of the exposition elephants are available through the Elephant Parade webshop www.elephantparadewebshop.com. Other merchandise by Elephant Parade includes the Elephant Parade DIY Artbox, Mugs, Keyrings, Artbooks, Caps, T-shirts, Tableware and Paper products. Their merchandise is sold in 23 countries in over 225 stores and Elephant Parade retailers can be found at: www.elephantparade.com/partners.

About Sanrio

Founded in 1960 in Japan, Sanrio has turned the gift-giving tradition into company’s “Small Gift, Big Smile” mission to help people express their heart felt feelings. It's more than just a catchy phrase; it's the foundation of everything we do, and we're proud to say we've been creating smiles for over 40 years. Throughout the years the company has created and licensed over 400 characters appealing on ages 0 to forever. It is indeed not only home to superstar Hello Kitty, but a global brand concentrating on marketing classic characters like My Melody, Kerokerokeroppi, Bad Badtz-Maru, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Chococat, Charmmykitty the new entry Gudetama and the British icons Mr. Men Little Miss. Sanrio today joins forces with the most respected companies in fashion, streetwear, cosmetics, hi-tech, toys to bring smiles on the coolest brands.

About Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty was born in London in 1974. Throughout the years she has become one of the most unique and interesting characters ever created, a worldwide social icon with relevance to women of all ages, ethnicities and economic backgrounds as well as an inspiration to artists and designers. Thanks to her brand values - happiness and affection, fashionable for all ages, always popular, never stale, never out of date, simplicity and flexibility - Hello Kitty is today one of the coolest lifestyle brands, joining forces with the most respected Companies in every possible category…: as Hello Kitty says, you can never have too many friends!