| By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Pucca, the adorable red-and-black-clad Asian schoolgirl, is set to capture more hearts all over the world.
The growing popularity of Pucca prompted Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) to recently expand its master license agreement with Pucca creator Vooz Co., covering North America, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This means more Pucca-related apparel, accessories, bags, home goods, school supplies and stationery will become available for young adults, teenagers and pre-teens around the world.
Pucca started as a series of online animated clips created by Vooz in Korea. It follows the story of Pucca, the feisty 10-year-old daughter of a Chinese restaurant owner in Korea, who is in love with Garu, a 12-year-old ninja warrior. Pucca currently airs as a half-hour animated series on Disney XD in the U.S.
Jeffrey Whalen, WBCP senior vice president and general manager of Asia, Latin America & Third Party Licensing, praised Vooz for creating such rich content for Pucca.
``We had several hours of meetings earlier and many days of meetings with Vooz management. And we were always asked, `Why Vooz? Why Pucca?' All we came up with is: one, we don't think you can go wrong with love, and second, the abundance and beauty of the content that Vooz has created for Pucca is stunning. It's a great association for us, and we're quite proud of this,'' Whalen said, during the Pucca showcase at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel, southern Seoul, Thursday.
Kim Boo-kyoung, president of Vooz Co., expressed confidence that the global strategic alliance with WBCP will lead to more success for the Pucca brand.
Vooz organized the Pucca showcase, attended by Korean celebrities including Bada and Eugene. K-pop girl group 4Minute also performed three of their hit songs during the show. 4Minute was picked as the Pucca brand representative because of the girls' funky but cute style.
The main event was a fashion show featuring designs by Kwak Hyun-joo, jewelry by Lisa Kim, bags by BFLAT's Back Hee and shoes by Intro's Park Young-jun.
While the charming character is largely identified with the teen market, Pucca is being transformed as a fashionable, upscale brand through Kwak's women's wear collection. It seems the Pucca brand is trying to raise its profile among women in their 20s and 30s.
As if to emphasize the grown-up appeal of Pucca, a short animated clip showed Pucca as a gun-toting Angelina Jolie-type fighting bad guys who kidnapped her beloved Garu. Inspired by the fierce Pucca image, models wore sexy dresses, slinky jumpsuits and swimsuits while holding red guns on the runway.
The collection, which was initially introduced during Seoul Fashion Week in October, also featured party dresses decorated with big, glittery Pucca logos. Most of the garments were in red and black, staying true to Pucca's signature colors. The boxy gray bags designed by BFLAT were embellished with sparkly Pucca and Garu character appliques.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr | |
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