Smiley, 50 years of positivism, style, and fashion

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In the movie Forrest Gump, our hero makes history as he runs across the country; and discovers the rhythm of rock and roll and other adventures. Eventually, he meets a poor T-shirt vendor who, Gump recalls, wanted to put my face on a T-shirt, but he could not draw that well, and he did not have a camera. Luckily, a truck passes and splashes mud on Forrest’s face. He wipes his face on a yellow T-shirt and hands it back to the down-on-his-luck businessman, telling him to have a nice day. His face imprint left a perfect, abstract smiley face on the bright yellow jersey. Then an icon was born.

As you probably expect, that is not how the legendary smiley face icon was born. Although, it does have a surprisingly complex – and controversial – history for such a simple graphic.

For the past 50 years, Smiley has embraced positivity, creativity, and collaboration, inspiring forward-thinking optimism globally.

Born as a symbol of good news in the France Soir newspaper in 1972, Smiley is now one of the world’s top 100 licensing companies, universally recognized and registered in more than 100 countries.

The simple little yellow face has spawned tens of thousands of variations and has appeared on everything from pillows and posters to perfume and pop art. Its meaning has changed with social and cultural values: from the optimistic message on the newspaper to a commercialized logo to an ironic fashion statement to a symbol of rave culture printed on ecstasy pills to a wordless expression of emotions in text messages. Today, Smiley spreads positivity as a lifestyle icon that encourages everyone to express more empathy, compassion, and gratitude. Smiley is determined to build a better future, and it starts with taking the time to smile.

As part of the actions to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Smiley created a unique collection collaborating with various national and international brands, available exclusively at El Palacio de Hierro from April 1.

Smiley enlisted fashion veteran Sarah Andelman, co-founder of the legendary Parisian store Colette and head of the agency Just an Idea, to cure more than 50 collaborations, including international brands in fashion, design, home, beauty, and consumption.

The collection will be available exclusively in six stores in El Palacio de Hierro (Santa Fe, Polanco, Roma, Centro, Monterrey, and Guadalajara) with international brands such as Sandro, Moschino, Desigual, Michael Kors, Vilebrequin, AX, Havaianas, Assouline, Happy Socks, Cozu, Sunny Like, and Skateroom; as well as the Mexican brand of accessories Cloe and El Palacio de Hierro house brands: Epsilon, Unwind, The Mashup, Catamarán and Wild&Alive.

For his part, Nicolas Loufrani, CEO of Smiley, commented: Through partnerships with designers and brands, ranging from luxury to streetwear, beauty, home, and design, Smiley seeks to remind the world of the importance of taking the time to smile. Since its founding in 1972, our mission has been to spread the good news and inspire positivity and creativity in art, fashion, film, music, and pop culture for everyone.

The brands that participated in the Collectors Edition took art as their style guide created by renowned French graffiti artist André Saraiva, who re-imagined the iconic happy face to celebrate 50 years of its creation.