Meeting Simone Legno at The Gentle Art Exhibit

I met Simone Legno! At The Gentle Art Exhibit, held at Hyperfly HQ in San Diego, Simone was present to do a meet and greet as well as perform live art on a blank jiu jitsu kimono. I was down for it but couldn’t help but to hesitate at the opportunity since I’d have to drive quite far to make it.

The tickets to the event were free provided that you RSVP’d in advance but this was rather tricky. Tricky for two reasons. Reason #1: The tickets ran out within less than an hour from when I learned about it. That’s insanity and I’m glad I decided to make that reservation before I wasn’t able to do so! (I think a good amount of hyperfly folks had already RSVP’d before the tokidoki folks got around to it. I get it because the event is held at Hyperfly HQ.)

Reason #2: I’m assuming most people were happy to have been able to make a reservation only to be dumbfounded upon receiving an email from hyperfly via eventbrite that we’d need to pick an arrival slot as well as pay a $5 fee. If that didn’t sound like bait and switch, I don’t know what does. The reasoning behind the $5 fee was to ensure that you’d actually make it to the event since there were so many people that wanted to attend. Hmm. I think it would have been one thing had that been disclosed from the get go BUT to do that after advertising the event as free? Not cool. Fortunately, an email was sent not long after to disregard that specific email and how the event does remain free but people would just need to possibly wait in line for a long time. Okay, now we’re talking… (But I still can’t get over that hiccup because who came up with that idea? Most aren’t going to skip out on the opportunity to meet Simone Legno if they’re a tokidoki fan.)

Upon arrival to the event, I wasn’t sure where to check in because signage just wasn’t obvious. It was itty bitty and so not in your face. Depending on where you parked (street parking), you may see the food trucks first, thinking that’s where you enter. However, the entrance is actually on the opposite side, which is actually the entrance to the Hyperfly store and I guess it’d be a no brainer if you walked from your car and saw this part of Hyperfly first but for everyone else, I’m thinking it may not have been that obvious especially if it was your first time coming to Hyperfly. I think any confusion could have been prevented had they just made the signage more obvious, obnoxious and in your face.

Anyway, there was definitely a wait to meet and greet Simone. While waiting, you could watch athletes on the tokidoki mat. (I thought there was no schedule or information on the athletes only to find out a lot later on an itty bitty sign that there was indeed information. So, I must repeat myself on how bad the signage was at this event. Who knows? Maybe it was assumed that most wouldn’t pay attention or that everyone would have super acute eyesight to notice it? lol) You could browse the hyperfly store for both hyperfly and tokidoki merchandise. You could eat food from the food trucks. You could also just wait around. There was music being played that was quite too loud for my tastes, honestly but it probably helped to keep people from being restless.

For the early birds that came to meet and greet Simone, they most likely missed out on Simone Legno’s live art performance on the blank jiu jitsu kimono if they chose not to stay around afterwards. I suppose if you have a bunch of kids with you, you might have difficulty with staying put but it doesn’t change the fact that they missed out on an opportunity.

While the live art performance took some time, it was great to watch and see Simone transform the blank jiu jitsu kimono into something so vibrant and colorful. Throughout the process, it can be quite a game to figure out what he’d paint onto the jiu jitsu kimono next and I have to say, my guesses weren’t exactly accurate.

Afterwards, there was yet another meet and greet and that was when I finally got to get my items drawn and signed by Simone Legno. I have no idea what people usually say to Simone Legno but I didn’t even get around to telling him that I was a fan of tokidoki. I think just being able to say “hello” was already a lot for me because my mind just could not function at 100% after dealing with hot weather and driving quite a distance. Regardless, I think what I was wearing made it obvious that I am a fan of tokidoki without even having to verbally say it. Lol

He seemed like such a down to earth guy and I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet him. It’s quite a different feeling to meet the person behind a brand you buy. To be honest, I think I am getting a bit too old for tokidoki BUT it doesn’t change the fact that I have a decent amount of their items and I still do like a good amount of the stuff they produce.

I left the event happy because I found my Donutella drawing from Simone Legno to be the cutest thing ever and every time I look at it, I just see so much warmth and cheer. Donutella might not be my most favorite tokidoki character but I absolutely adore this Donutella drawing. I never thought I’d do such a fangirl thing but I guess I did by attending this event and meeting and greeting Simone Legno!

P.S. It just dawned on me now that I had such a golden opportunity to ask or request Simone if products of a specific character(s) could be produced in the near future. Ugh! Lol Well, I guess that’s why social media exists but it wouldn’t have the same impact. Ah, maybe next time… I really want a comeback of the rock star characters! “Because baby, I’m a rock star…”