Uniqlo — Japan's H&M — Signs Up Chichi Brands for NYC Store

[doctorgnar]

From New York Mag's Intelligencer:

(http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2006/10/uniqlo_japans_hm_signs_up_chic.html)

Intel

10/19/06

5:39 PM

Uniqlo — Japan's H&M — Signs Up Chichi Brands for NYC Store

Uniqlo, the Japanese source of hipster basics, is known for affordable T-shirt collaborations with artists like Barbara Kruger. Now we hear that the company plans to bring the same approach to its New York flagship when it opens on November 10. (Meantime, there's a temporary store at Rockefeller Center.) Sources say Uniqlo has tapped high-end designers Lutz & Patmos (cashmere sweaters), Philip Lim (womenswear), and Cloak (menswear) to create collections for the store for spring 2007. An official announcement is expected on Monday, but spokespeople for both Lutz & Patmos and Cloak confirmed the partnership. (Phillip Lim's spokesman would neither confirm nor deny.) All items — in Cloak's case, a jacket, a slim jean, a trouser, a polo shirt, and some shirting — will conform to Uniqlo's reasonable pricing philosophy (nearly everything is in the low double digits). We only hope the sizing will be more American than Japanese.

— Rima Suqi

[herpsky]

cloak?!

..........

[Astérix]

Cloak??? I'd buy that! Think how cheap that would be coming from Uniqlo!

[tweeds]

philip lim!

i mean...+1 for the ladies

[colin]

...We only hope the sizing will be more American than Japanese.

no we dont!

[minya]

Anyone else feel that this is, in some way, the 'future' of fashion design?

I think judging how popular the Karl Lagerfeld H&M thing was, how popular the Stella McCartney thing was, and how popular I'm betting the Viktor & Rolf thing will be, affordable, well-designed goods are going to become a major income source for designers whose luxury goods only sell to a tiny market.

[Astérix]

Hedi SlimanexUniqlo...that shit would sell.

[Morningstar]

My friend who works as an assistant designer at Uniqlo had told me about this a couple of weeks ago. She said Alexandre had been by the offices a few times to discuss designs and what not.

[doctorgnar]

I think judging how popular the Karl Lagerfeld H&M thing was

Yeah that was madness. It was like a riot in some stores.

I hope we see more. Seems like a good business model to me.

[tweeds]

A&F x Raf Simons?

i think it'll pass, like the high end collabs will (hopefully). though i'm really quite excited by these budget collaborations.

[Kodak]

I can't wait to see the products.

[oOmegaOo]

I read this just yesterday -- very exciting news. Uniqlo.jp has their Designers invitation project, which has pretty nice pieces.

colin, I cringed at that quote too. >_<

[minya]

Nah, A&F will never collaborate ... I know that was a joke, but I see what you're saying, but I don't think it's even a necessary fear. I think "fashion-forward" mass-market retailers like Uniqlo and H&M will keep having high-profile designers design collections, and if it works as well as it has in the past, I can see American retailers like Gap picking up on the trend. Honestly I wouldn't mind that at all.

[doctorgnar]

Yeah, as long as it doesn't backfire, like the Gap Red shit, where you have nice quality, fashion-forward stuff, but with an inflated price tag to match. If Gap kept those prices consistent with the rest of their stuff, they would be on to something.

[eastcoastrider27]

We only hope the sizing will be more American than Japanese

[sarcasm]Yeah, there needs to be more fashion forward clothing available to fat Americans[/sarcasm]

[bluespring]

now im excited! im like a block away from the flagship uniqlo store in nyc

[Blues]

bluespring, Lucky sob!

Being monetarily challenged, Uniqlo is my kind of place.

The Rockefeller temp store and the upper west side location is news to me, I can drop by the latter during breaks from class.

[Astérix]

How fast do you guys think the Cloak pieces will sell out?

[Kodak]

^Faster than the most exclusive dunks.

[Astérix]

Shit! I really want that stuff. How much do you guys think it will go for?

[Kodak]

I wish we had a uniqlo in the midwest.

[oOmegaOo]

now im excited! im like a block away from the flagship uniqlo store in nyc

I hate you, bluespring.

[american_hearts]

Yeah, as long as it doesn't backfire, like the Gap Red shit, where you have nice quality, fashion-forward stuff, but with an inflated price tag to match. If Gap kept those prices consistent with the rest of their stuff, they would be on to something.

it was smart to raise prices. if it fails, it's for other reasons. the majority of consumers judge quality by price. especially in the case of gap where they come into it expecting a certain substandard level of quality, only an inflated price tag will let them know they're getting something extra.

[jonglover]

Only read half of the initial post and two of the following posts, but I'm sure I'll sound like a broken record when I say...Cloak?!?!

[onemancult]

I'd heard about the Cloak collaboration a few weeks ago, but not the others.

I expect it to blow the Viktor & Rolf menswear for H&M oout of the water.

[mspark]

no we dont!

Hell yeah we do! I aint a skinny muthatfucka.

[DaBestSpoona]

Uniqlo sizing in the US is horrible. I wear like XL in Japan, L in Gap, but Uniqlo's US products I wear M or S. Their pants I have to go down 2 sizes.

[LetsGetSerious]

Hedi SlimanexUniqlo...that shit would sell.

haha, no shit

[weirdnjfan1]

I hope that the other three stores in NJ get the lines and it's not in the NYC stores. Man, I see some of the cloak stuff and wish that I can afford it and now I can if this is true.

[I_miss_lily]

Shit! I wonder how hard it's gonna be to get a hold of some of this stuff. Somebody here is going to have to do some reselling.