Daily Front Row

2006 October 23

Uniqlo Goes Designer

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(NEW YORK) From pop-up shops to guerilla marketing campaigns, Uniqlo certainly hasn’t missed a beat. The same can be said for its latest initiative: inviting women’s wear designers Phillip Lim, Alice Roi, Tina Lutz and Marcia Patmos of Lutz & Patmos, Kino, and GVGV, and men’s wear designers Halb, Satoru Tanaka, and Alexandre Plokhov of Cloak to each design capsule collections of eight looks for Spring/Summer 2007.

“The response to our Designers Invitation Project for Fall 2006, currently in stores, has been strong,” said Nobuo Domae, Uniqlo’s U.S. CEO. “This project is yet another way to introduce Uniqlo’s unique balance of high style, high quality merchandise at affordable prices. We are extremely excited to continue this important project for Spring 2007.”

Uniqlo will launch its flagship 36,000 sq. ft. store on Broadway in Soho next month, where each of the eight designers’ creations will be showcased for one month each. Uniqlo will feature the sweater designs from Lutz & Patmos during the month of February, followed by Japanese designer Halb’s men’s collection and the women’s collection from the Japanese designer Kino in March. In April, the company will offer an edited version of the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection, as well as the men’s collection from Japanese designer Satoru Tanaka. Alice Roi’s separates and dresses and Cloak designer Alexander Plokhov’s men’s collections for Uniqlo will be available in May. Rounding out the collections will be the women’s collection from the Japanese brand GVGV in June.

"After reading literature, visiting the store, and researching the Uniqlo concept, I realized the philosophy behind Uniqlo was comparable to that of 3.1 Phillip Lim: to make fashion accessible without sacrificing value," said Lim. "I thought that if I am able to do it at a higher-level in a more personal context with 3.1 Phillip Lim, it would be interesting to push the boundaries further and make fashion and value come together for an even wider audience, without sacrificing on our identities.”
JIM SHI