Gucci has collaborated with anime streaming brand Crunchyroll to launch a selection of items from Bananya, an original Japanese anime series about the lives of tiny cats who live in bananas.
The Bananya series is produced by studio TMS Entertainment and both seasons can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll worldwide, outside of Asia. Crunchyroll boasts more than four million subscribers and over 100 million registered users, with an anime library of more than 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes available to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
The selection of special items featuring Bananya will be available from May online at Gucci.com and in directly operated stores worldwide.
“Anime is a pop culture mainstay and our new collection with Gucci celebrating the eternally adorable Bananya is just another example of the power of this medium to transcend categories,” said John Leonhardt, head of consumer products, Crunchyroll. “We are thrilled to be working with Gucci to bring this playful collection to fans around the world.”
The collection includes seven womenswear items — four G Loved base short-sleeve cotton t-shirts and three felted cotton sweatshirts, adorned with the Bananya characters. For women, there are two styles of trainers and a pair of slides that all display Bananya and Tabby Bananya. For jewelry, there is a colored crystal and fabric brooch with the trio of cats that make up the Bananya Bunch, and one with Bananya on his own. Gucci is also offering a chain necklace in metal with gold finish, featuring Bananya as a pendant fashioned out of crystals and enamel.