You can say that Simone Legno is a rock star in the pop culture scene worldwide. His fans wait overnight for his meet and greet sessions, they collect every single collectible toy that he creates, and they tattoo his artwork all over their bodies. The co-founder of the brand “Tokidoki” definitely have come a long way since he started “Tokidoki” as a website when he just only got done with university, working with the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Black Eyed Peas, LeSportsac, Skull Candy, Hello Kitty, and the list goes on and on.
Simone was just recently down here in Kuala Lumpur for the Tokidoki exhibition which will be on from the 29th May – 29th June 2014 and we had the opportunity to have a one on one session with him to “berborak” with him. Check out the interview below.
Your profile in Wikipedia states that you used to study Political Science back in your university days, how did you end up being an artist / designer?
I was fresh outta high school, it was just only the beginning of the internet age, and my father did not believe that being an artist was a good enough job to survive. Right now, the internet is like one of the biggest industry in the world, and designing plays a big role in the industry, but back then it was all untested waters, so he decided that it was something best for me to study. Another reason is that in Italy, we have some universities that offer free education, and political science is one of those subjects that they offer, whereas designing is a new media, and you have to go to an expensive university to learn it, and I don’t come from a wealthy family, so the natural choice was to study political science.
So how did your dad react to the news that you dropped outta uni?
I told him that I just didn’t wanna study political science anymore, it wasn’t something that I liked and I wanted to study designing. So I dropped out and did odd jobs to pay for college. In the beginning it was hard, but it was something that I liked very much and I stuck to it. My mum saw that I was very happy doing what I’m doing and eventually she support what I was doing. Now both my parents are extremely proud of me and I’m glad that I made the choice to switch.
While I was reading through your profile, another thing that intrigued me was your partner in TokiDoki, Pooneh Mohajer, who was previously in the cosmetics business. What made you partner with her, because she was from totally different background compared to you?
Passion. It is the most important thing in starting the company. I saw that she was very passionate about the idea of TokiDoki and that we were both on the same page when it comes to that. It was also her vision of what she wanted to achieve with TokiDoki. We both have really big dreams for the company, so it is good that both of our dreams and vision are on the same page too.
We were not big, but we were both dreaming big.
Out of all the Japanese words, why did you choose TokiDoki ( which means “sometimes” ) ?
Because I liked how it sounds, and most importantly I think the word is a very powerful and positive word.
“Sometimes, dreams do come true. “
You started TokiDoki because you were very into the Japanese culture, why the obsession with it?
My work isn’t really all about Japanese culture, it’s a mixture of everything, like Avant- street art, which involves a lot elements from wherever I travel. But since I was little I watched a lot of Japanese animation. It isn’t just about being a fan of Japanese anime, it was more like watching the Japanese culture through the animation. The kimono, the chopsticks, the wooden sandals, the sliding doors, the cute characters, all of it were very intriguing to me when I was growing up.
What is your favorite Japanese anime of all time?
I don’t know man, I like anime from the 80’s when I was growing up. There’s this particular one called Ganbare Genki. If you don’t cry watching that anime, you are very heartless. It is a very heart breaking anime. It is an anime that is very very “Japanese”, it is about a boy who practices boxing, his trainer is from the yakuza, there are a lot of cherry blossoms in it, his mother dies, his father dies, it is very dramatic.
I’m not really a big shopper, but I’m into collecting vintage Japanese robots, that’s where most of my money goes to. I’m one of those maniacs that wait and wait like a sniper, searching on forums and websites for someone to sell stuff like that. So I also watch a lot of Japanese anime that has robots in it.
Let’s get a little bit into the scene. You’ve been in the Pop Culture scene for some time now, about 10 years, since you started out in 2004, what is your personal view on the scene right now? And where do you think it is headed to?
Honestly, compared to many years ago, back then there were a lot of independent artists appearing, and you can see their works flourishing. But right now, a lot of things are monopolized by big companies. The scene overall isn’t very active like how it used to be, and maybe it is because of the current trends. It’s an up and down kinda thing. At one point everyone were into toys, then now it’s a bit inactive. Right now everyone is just following the trends and the hype.
You have a long list of brands, artiste and clients that you’ve collaborated with, among all, which is your most favorite collaboration?
That is a tough question. I think I will go with a few categories. The one that I’m most proud of is the Karl Lagerfeld collab, the one that is the most successful one is the LeSportsac, the one that I think that is most educative for me is the one with Sephora Cosmetics, and the one is the most coolest for me is the one with Onitsuka Tiger.
Which brand that you have not collaborated with and would love to work together?
I want to work with an airline, because I would really love to decorate the whole airplane. I would also love to work high-end brands, because the quality of product is there and it is also very validating, but as a designer I would really love to decorate a plane.
I travel a lot, so I’m always at an airport, and my dad use to be a staff at the airport back in Italy, so I grew up loving airports and airplanes.
What would be your best advice to anyone that wants to pursue a path like yours?
Firstly, get a website. That is a must. You need to show the world your work. Never give up too. Things in the beginning may not be working out, but that can be attributed to many reasons like maybe you are still not good enough yet, so just keep pushing forward and don’t give up. You have to always improve, never ever stop improving, keep yourself updated and don’t be left behind, and never ever copy. Once you have been stained as a copycat, even if later on you have the most original idea, you will still be labeled as a copy. The community and the world is small, so don’t copy.
