Fans flock to LeSportsac to meet Simone Legno and Palette

 

Nadine Kam photos
It was all color, Kawaii, sweetness and lollipops as LeSportsac welcomed tokidoki creator Simone Legno to the Ala Moana Center store in celebration of the LeSportsac X tokidoki collaboration.

Success hasn’t spoiled Simone Legno. The tokidoki creator and creative director returned to Honolulu to celebrate the LeSportsac X tokidoki collaboration marking LeSportsac’s 40th anniversary, and remains as humble and personable as he was on his last visit to the Ala Moana store in 2007, where he signed autographs and posed for pictures for fans for 6-1/2 hours.

This time was no different, though, anticipating a huge crowd for the anniversary release, a wristband system was implemented at the store to maintain order and prevent people from being disappointed if time ran out.


Non-flash video link

More than 200 fans started lining up at about 7 a.m. for the signing that began at 2 p.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m. Hundreds of others milled around the store, hoping for a glimpse of the artist and scooping up the collaboration bags bearing tokidoki’s newest character Palette, a leopard that changes her spots with her moods. In the video, Legno talks about the inspirations for his prints and Palette.

LeSportsac buyer Edna Hechtman reported that, “Many fans commented that is was handled very well, organized and pleasant. They had shown so much compassion for Simone drawing for hours to accommodate each fan’s request for their favorite character. It was nice to hear that the fans were so happy Simone was here and that they didn’t mind standing in line to meet him.”

At a press event preceding the public event, LeSportsac reps and Legno also dropped hints about a Hawaii collaboration set to arrive in the fall. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, visit the tokidoki blog at http://www.tokidoki.it/blog/tag/video for videos of Palette as she explores tokidoki-land. There are seven animations that will be released a week at a time, on Mondays. The first three are posted.

Simone Legno, left, with LeSportsac director of sales Cindy Eastman, and Waikiki Trader president and CEO James Geiger, who brought LeSportsac to Hawaii.

Edna Hechtman photo
One fan came dressed like one of tokidoki’s City Girls.

Palette and the prints she inspired.

Lena Strong-Morris shows Simone Legno’s signature and illustration inside her new LeSportsac X tokidoki Palette backpack.

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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.