A WONDERLAND OF CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Aneeth Arora of Péro brings Hello Kitty home with her opening show at Lakmé Fashion Week X FDCI. It celebrated 15 years of the Delhi-based label and 50 years of the much-loved Japanese cartoon figure, marking it as a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration.

- PRIYAMVADA RANA

HOW much surprise is too much surprise? Sitting in an unnamed bungalow on Barakhamba Road, getting ready for an unveiling, its white façade at the entrance did let attendees pick on the hints of what Péro's opening show at the just concluded Lakmé Fashion Week X FDCI was about. A wonderland of memories that revives the adorable Japanese cartoon character Hello Kitty in our memory. Who doesn't remember the merchandise many of us flexed as kids - from pencils and erasers, lunch boxes, water bottles, hair bands to funky handbags that we carried on our picnics? The venue and its themed décor, painted that childhood right in front of us - on a massive embroidered wall mural inspired by '90s pixel art, we were welcomed with images of ditsy florals, Hello Kitty's face, her bow, telephone, and heart-sealed letters, hooking us viewers. A photo booth adorned with hundreds of stuffed Hello Kitty toys became a joy-land evoking the child inside us.

All across the venue, on trees hung stuffed toys of cherries, strawberries, apples, creamy cupcakes - the everyday favourites of Hello Kitty, and they looked like visual treats sewn by the Péro team. A Hello Kitty van, washed in pink, invited guests over for snackable treats while a big heart shaped gingham check pattern stuffed installation provided a picture perfect frame, reminding one of Péro's signature patterns.