The best way to tell if someone has a heart is to get their take on My Neighbor Totoro: if they give the correct answer ("I love it!"), you know they're not some sort of android wearing a human suit. Thus, all us fans of Studio Ghibli's 1988 masterpiece can unanimously agree that PORTER's exquisite second Totoro collaboration is one of the movie's better product tie-ins.
Sure, you could validly argue that you actually prefer Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or Spirited Away (my fave), but surely no one alive could dislike the adorable tree spirits of My Neighbor Totoro.
That being said, I could see how more casual fans might've been somewhat put off by the first Totoro x PORTER collection, which was a little out there even for those familiar with the Japanese bag brand and its signature nylon. I mean, how else can you describe bomber jacket-inspired bags with fur panels?
This second Totoro x PORTER drop follows in those footsteps with more fur-trimmed cases, including backpacks, shoulder bags, pouches, and wallets. But the Totoro connection is made clearer by an external print of a landscape scene from the film, which continues to the inside, where Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe take flight with Totoro himself.
There are also a couple thematic T-shirts showing Totoro standing next to his own PORTER bag.
But that's just the beginning.
The collaboration's really good stuff is a series of truly adorable tree spirit pins, made of wool and leather by a company called Polar Fishing Wear in the vein of those sheepskin patches you see pinned to fly fishermen's vests.
And the icing is a pair of cute Totoro plush figures handmade of PORTER's inimitable nylon, the tallest of which is nearly 10".
No cat bus here but, meh, there's already so much merch for that guy that it's hard to complain.
PORTER's second round of Totoro goods isn't quite as good as LOEWE's Spirited Away collection, which released early this year, though maybe I'm biased. It's still pretty great, however, and should sell out instantly when it drops at Japanese department store Isetan on October 19.
If you want to try to get your hands on some of it, your best bet is to proxy some stuff from Yoshida Kaban's web store — PORTER's parent company — when it launches the Totoro collab on October 29, though it'll probably sell at least as fast as PORTER's other franchise team-ups (read: super fast).
