September 11, 2009
News for New York Anime Festival 2009:
Baby, The Stars Shine Bright boutique returns to NYAF
Premier Japanese Fashion Designer Apparel Available at NY Anime FestivalNorwalk, CT, September 11, 2009: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced Baby, The Stars Shine Bright -- Japan's premier Lolita fashion brand -- will participate in its 2009 event through an official boutique with show partner Kinokuniya Bookstore. The New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, will take place September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan. NYAF Guests include Yoshiyuki Tomino -- the Director of Mobile Suit Gundam -- and Yui Makino -- the voice of Sakura in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. NYAF premieres include Gurren Lagann: The Movie - Childhood's End, Cencoroll, and 20th Century Boys.
NYAF and Kinokuniya first hosted a Baby, The Stars Shine Bright Boutique at the 2008 New York Anime Festival. This year, NYAF and Kinokuniya are proud to continue their relationship with Baby, The Stars Shine Bright with the return of the popular destination.
Located as part of the Kinokuniya Booth at NYAF (Booth Number 203), the Baby, The Stars Shine Bright Boutique will offer a variety of the designer's distinctive Lolita-styled skirts, dresses, blouses, and accessories. For newcomers to the Lolita fashion scene, Japanese Lolita fashion embraces child-like charms and details from periods such as Rococo France and Victorian England. The Lolita look is full of knee-skimming skirts, pintucks, petticoats, and blouses edged in lace. Developing since the 1970s in Japan, Lolita fashion is now rapidly gaining a wide following worldwide.
"We're honored to again be able to present a boutique in cooperation with Baby, The Stars Shine Bright," NYAF Show Manager Lance Fensterman said. "Baby, The Stars Shine Bright is a unique and marvelous designer, and we know the boutique will be a highlight for many, many attendees."
"It's exciting to again work with Baby, The Stars Shine Bright," Kinokuniya Store Manager John Fuller said. "Baby, The Stars Shine Bright is a unique and marvelous designer, and we're thrilled to be able to present their fashion to New York City."
For more information on NYAF or to purchase tickets, please visit the show's official site (www.nyanimefestival.com). For the latest announcements, please visit NYAF's official blog (www.mediumatlarge.net) or follow NYAF on Twitter (www.twitter.com/NY_Anime_Fest).
ABOUT BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT:
Baby, The Stars Shine Bright was founded in Shibuya, Tokyo in 1988 by husband and wife team Akinori and Fumiyo Isobe. Baby, The Stars Shine Bright has since grown into an international phenomenon with fans around the world and stores as faraway as Paris. The brand has collaborated with numerous famous icons including Sanrio's Hello Kitty and Japanese pop star Nana Kitade. Anime fans and followers of Asian cinema will no doubt recognize Baby, The Stars Shine Bright as the clothing line at the center of the feature film Kamikaze Girls.
ABOUT KINOKUNIYA:
Japanese Arts, Cooking, Fashion and Anime. More than a bookstore, Kinokuniya is a community where New Yorkers gather to relax, sit at a café, and meet internationally acclaimed writers and artists. Kinokuniya is the New York subsidiary of Kinokuniya Company, LTD, the world's leading Japanese bookstore which operates 84 stores internationally. Founded in 1927, Kinokuniya's first store opened in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. Today, Kinokuniya has developed into a large-scale bookstore chain with the goal of providing Japanese living abroad with information from home as quickly as possible and introducing Japanese tradition and culture to the local community. For more information please visit the flagship US store location at 1073 Avenues of the Americas (between 40th and 41st Streets) or on the web at kinokuniya.com.
ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:
The New York Anime Festival takes place September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival showcases the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival features exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explores the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life. Further information can be found at newyorkanimefestival.com.
ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS POP CULTURE GROUP:
The Pop Culture Group at Reed Exhibitions owns and operates the New York Comic Con (NYCC), the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), and the New York Anime Festival (NYAF). New York Comic Con was launched in 2006 and quickly became a dominant presence in the pop culture world of public events. In 2009, 452 companies exhibited at NYCC for a total of 84,000 square feet of paid exhibit space, and it has been ranked by Crain's New York Business as the second-largest annual event in NYC. C2E2, which will debut April 16 – 18 at Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center, is modeled after NYCC and will provide fans the opportunity to meet and greet their favorite writers, creators, and artists, as well as to see, hear and learn about the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. The Pop Culture Group also operates the recently-launched UFC Fan Expo in partnership with the UFC – the world's leading professional mixed martial artss organization – and it formed a strategic partnership with Penny Arcade Expo (PAAX) in 2008 and will work closely with PAX on the launch of PAX East in Boston in 2010.
