tokidoki - when Italy meets Japan
I'd like to spend a bit of my time talking about an emerging brand I fell in love with: tokidoki
I don't know if you've already heard about it, anyway it's becoming more and more popular all around the world!
The creator is Simone Legno and he's an italian artist who got inspired by japanese iconography...
Some days ago I bought the school diary and I wanted to translate and share the little interview I found on it. And I'd also like to show you some examples of its style.
tokidoki means "once in a while" in japanese. I chose a japanese word because I love Japan. I like everything: from the happy and super-modern side of Shibuya to the magic and serious silence of Kyoto.
I chose "once in a while", because everybody is waiting for those moments that can change our lives. Out of sheer luck or thanks to a new encounter, tokidoki is the hope, that energy that is hidden inside of everyone and that gives us the strenght to face every single day and to dream of something positive, to dream that something magic will happen.
Hi, my name is Simone Legno and I'm an italian artist.
HISTORY
tokidoki was born as a personal website some years ago, a bit of a journal and a bit of an exhibition where I could show my art and my soul. From the very beginning of tokidoki I was impressed by the praises of thousands of people that expressed me their love for the way I interpreted the japanese culture.
Then, at the beginning of 2003 I received a very "tokidoki" mail. The co-founder of Hard Candy Cosmetics and her husband, two earnest businessmen, had bumped into my website and fallen in love with it. They wanted to meet me in LA as soon as possible. They sent to me a flight ticket and just a few hours after my arrival in LA I received an amazing offer: to move house in California and to turn tokidoki into a worldwide brand for everyone who is willing to try the elegant, playful and also sexy world of tokidoki. Now I'm in LA and I'm living my dream of a more colorful and positive world with tokidoki!
Done!! This is the official website for anyone interested: http://www.tokidoki.it/
The first page is in english, but sometimes it switches into italian XD Don't worry, in that case all you have to do is to click on the english flag at the top-right of the page!
NOTES:
Don't miss the video interview (it's in english), the goods (of course) and last but not least... the "fun" section! :D I love the ninja cupido game!! Also the "collaborations" and the "blog" parts are interesting!! You'll have the chance to see some stuff that there's not in the shop... but it's a joy for the eyes!!
My advice is to take a glimpse here too: http://www.asicsamerica.com/onitsukatiger/tokidoki/
There are some lovely wallpapers!!
As for me, I love this brand because it's so colorful and "kawaii" (there's no other word to describe it, seriously!) and it just brings happiness into people's life!!