tokidoki

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tokidoki (sometimes in Japanese) is the Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand created in 2005 by Italian artist Simone Legno and his business partners Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold. tokidoki produces apparel and other products using art and iconic characters designed by Simone Legno.

Contents

[edit] History

In early 2003, the co-founder of American cosmetics company Hard Candy, Pooneh Mohajer, and her husband Ivan Arnold discovered Legno's personal website, which had some popularity, being listed as one of the The Independent's top ten "websites of the week".[1] They subsequently arranged to meet him, and Simone joined them in Los Angeles to form the tokidoki business venture. Simone has become a recent fixture at the San Diego Comic Con and makes appearances at various locations worldwide for signings and promotions. Simone has also made a guest appearance on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

[edit] Products

[edit] tokidoki for LeSportsac

Since launching, tokidoki has created the tokidoki for LeSportsac line of handbags in collaboration with LeSportsac (each bag comes with a Qee[2]; a toy collaboration for Toy2R, inside carabiner on stretch cord and a ball chain).

  • The first print was introduced in Spring 2006, originally named Tokidoki, but deemed by fans as '"The Original Print", which includes Sandy and her Cactus Friends, along with the Moofia minions. Also included in this collection was the Black print, which had "The Original Print" lining the inside the bag and blue and green hardware. The cheapest bag style from the collection was the Carmellina make-up bag, which was retailed at $56, while the most expensive bag style was the Luna duffle bag, retailed at $198. Each bag came with either the Meomi (blue cat), Dalek (pink dog) or Tokidoki (white bear) qees (the Meomi and Dalek qees are not found in any other season; Dalek (James Marshall) and Meomi are other artists).
  • Summer 2006 produced 3 new prints featuring the tokidoki girls, Playground, Camo Playground Olive and Camo Playground Black, each with orange inside lining and brushed gold hardware. LeSportsac discontinued the following bag styles after this season: Caramellina, Angioletto ($62), Cangurino ($78), Mamma, ($96) Bella Bella ($148), and Andiamo ($164).
  • Fall 2006 produced the following 5 prints: Foresta (forest scene with orange inside and brushed gold hardware), Citta (with pink inside and brushed silver hardware), Citta Rosa (with pink inside and brushed silver hardware), Arancia (orange with Foresta print inside and brushed gold hardware) and Fumo (gray with Citta print inside with brushed silver hardware). New bag styles for this season include Braccialetto (no qee included, $42), Portatelefono ($84), Bocce ($88), Gioco ($160), Cucciolo ($198), Nuvola ($184), Corriere ($184), Zucca ($184), and Trenino ($298). Prices were noticeably increased for the Fall 2006 season, e.g. the Campeggio bag style increased $12 from $148 to $160.
  • Winter 2006 featured the following 3 prints with brushed silver hardware: Paradiso (heaven with yellow inside), Inferno (hell with red inside) and Notte (black with Citta print inside).
  • Spring 2007 featured the following 3 prints with brushed gold hardware: Pirata (ocean pirate scene with turquoise inside), Adios Star (the signature Adios Star with random tokidoki characters) and Bianco (white with Adios Star print inside). About three months later, the late Spring 2007 L'amore print (hot pink inside with gold hardware) was introduced; it had tokidoki characters portrayed as loving couples with hearts.
  • Summer 2007 featured the following 3 prints with brushed gold hardware: Spiaggia (beach scene with yellow inside), Fumo solid and Notte solid re-releases. The late Summer 2007 Famiglia print (orange inside with brushed gold hardware) was introduced, featuring various tokidoki characters in circles.
  • Fall 2007 featured the following 2 prints with brushed silver hardware and a new Adios keychain: Tutti (black and white drawing of most tokidoki characters with purple inside) and Trasporto (tokidoki characters traveling on a light gray background).
  • Winter 2007 featured the final tokidoki for LeSportsac print, Vacanze, which features a winter holiday scene including Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, tokidoki carolers, skiiers, penguins and eskimos. It has a gray inside lining, brushed silver hardware and includes the Adios keychain.

The tokidoki for LeSportsac line of handbags has been highly sought after, with rare prints and bags reaching bids up to three or four times the retail price on eBay, leading to the production of many illegal counterfeit copies. The most popular prints were re-released starting late 2007, beginning with Foresta on November 13th in Hawaii; it will include the Adios keychain, rather than the white tokidoki bear qee.

The Summer of 2008 will mark a special occasion for tokidoki fans when a new line of bags will be released. The bags will be manufactured by LeSportsac but will not bear the LeSportsac logo; instead, they will be branded only as "tokidoki." The first print will be released in August 2008 and is called "Carnival" with a carnival/circus theme. The second print will be released September and is called "Eco Mondo" with an environmental/save the planet theme and the last print will be released in October and is called "Concerto Punk" which shows various tokidoki characters at a punk rock concert. There will also be a black print with characters (nana star, fantasmino, adios star) appearing on the inside lining of the bags. The bags will be accompanied by a newly designed Adios keychain. There will be a total of 8 bag styles with some styles somewhat resembling the "Tokidoki for LeSportsac" bags. These new bags will be pricier than what tokidoki fans have been used to paying.

[edit] Toys

There are also a number of tokidoki vinyl toys. These include the 10" Trexi Yukuun and the 3" Trexi that came with it, Yuki-Za and the tokidoki series 3 Dunny. There was a collaboration with Devilrobots for the 3" Trexi Plus series. The Cactus Friends and Moofia line of designer toys with Strangeco has been highly successful. He also created an 8" Qee Bear named Sahara with Toy2R, available in several different exclusive colors (Yellow, Red, Black and White). The original (Yellow) Sahara Qee even included a 2.5" version of Simone Legno himself! There are also Cactus Pups scheduled to be released for the winter holidays, 2007. There have been two tokidoki Circus Punks. It was also announced that a series of tokidoki plush dolls will be released, including characters such as Sandy and Mozzarella. Production of these plushes had been pushed back and they are expected to arrive in stores by 2007's holiday season.

[edit] Clothing and accessories

There is a line of tokidoki clothing available which includes both t-shirts, hoodies and jackets for men and women. There is also a line of jewelry and belt buckles and New Era produces tokidoki hats. In 2006, the tokidoki timing line of watches launched along with tokidoki iPod covers created in conjunction with iSkin. In early 2007, a tokidoki journal and stationery set were introduced, produced by Dark Horse Comics. tokidoki has also produced sneakers and pumps with Italy's Fornarina shoes and a limited make-up line with Smashbox cosmetics.

Collaborations for 2008 include Hello Kitty and Onitsuka Tiger.

[edit] Characters

There are many tokidoki characters and most of them belong to their own distinct worlds inside of tokidoki. Many of these characters have appeared as STRANGEco vinyl toys.

  • The Cactus Friends include Sandy, Sabochan, Bastardino, Polpettina, Bruttino, Carina, and the Cactus Pups Series
    The Moofia include Mozzarella, Leche, Latte, Mou Mou, Soya, Choco and more
    Adios & Ciao Ciao The Grim Reaper and his girlfriend

And various Asian girls who are unnamed.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pro, Ash. "10 Best Sites of the Week", The Independent, 2003-01-04, pp. Features p. 66. Retrieved on 2006-12-29. 
  2. ^ [1] |

[edit] External links


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