Uniqlo opens shop soon in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - I remember my joy at unearthing a P50 new-looking oversized V-neck shirt from an ukay-ukay rack and seeing its red and white tag: deep and unbridled, the kind reserved for those second-, third-, and fourth-guess every clothing purchase, no matter how instant the attraction, because of looming rent bills. My discovery was a Uniqlo shirt, soft as butter, loose and blasé the way cool shirts are meant to be, and with a single seam running up the back instead of at the sides. It was love at first sight, forever cemented by the exchange of cash and invoice slip.

Similar fashion observers with a beer pocketbook will soon no longer have to perform archeological digs just to own a Uniqlo item as last Feb. 9, Japanese company Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. formally announced the June opening of the first Uniqlo shop in the Philippines, which will be located at SM Mall of Asia

The media gathering, attended by Naoki Otama, group executive vice president of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., and managing director of Uniqlo Asia and Japan, and Katsumi Kubota, chief operating officer of Fast Retailing Philippines, Inc., served both as a general introduction of the brand to the Filipino market and a preview of the kind of apparel local buyers can expect. Some of Uniqlo’s most popular products were on display, such as the UT collection of graphic tees and the AIRism innerwear line, and shop assistants were on hand to answer the media guests’ questions about the clothes, in preparation for the actual store opening.

“The Uniqlo brand is about creating truly great clothing,” Kubota remarked during the presentation. “It is also its mission to enable people all over the world to experience the joy, happiness, and satisfaction of wearing such great clothes.” With its mix-and-match “component” wear, Uniqlo’s general look is casual/basic,with pieces that can be easily integrated into an existing wardrobe. As Fast Retailing Japan’s CEO Tadashi Yanai noted in the company’s 2010 annual report, the brand’s strength lies not on producing cutting-edge collections but on the high quality of its fabrics and the meticulous attention it pays to clothes construction, no matter how deceptively simple the designs. “Working at Uniqlo brings home just how difficult it is to design basic clothes with a contemporary touch,” noted Mayoko Ito, the brand’s womenswear designer who has previously worked for other major apparel brands. “Compared to other apparel retailers, we are meticulous when commercializing clothing, attending to the minute details to achieve the most refined end product possible.” Uniqlo has also developed high-tech functional materials through the years: lightweight but heat-generating fabrics, textiles that protect against UV rays, clothing with deodorizing properties, etc., thus making their pieces not just lazy-day casuals but also wardrobe essentials.

Tee party: Numerous collaborations with artists, musicians, designers, and even corporate brands result in the UT Project

“Uniqlo proceeds in a completely different way (from) H&M or Zara, which both tend to pursue fashion trends,” Yanai wrote. Indeed, key Uniqlo products for women remain cashmere sweaters, cotton tees, skinny jeans, and innerwear; though the brand has been including dresses, skirts, blouses, fleece and down jackets, and leggings in its collections in recent years, their offerings remain reassuringly familiar every season.

But Uniqlo has also been occupying its share of the designer collaboration market with its Designers Invitation Project, whose roster includes Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra of Costello Tagliapietra, Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang, and Alice Roi. In fact, the +J collection, the brand’s collaborative project with Jil Sander that was launched in 2009 and won the 2011 Brit Insurance Design fashion Award, still remains one of the more popular partnerships in the international fashion scene, with Sander’s less-is-more aesthetic translated into key wardrobe pieces that have both the deceptively easy look of sportswear and a couture sensibility; sadly, Uniqlo and Sander marked the +J fall 2011 offering as their last collaboration.

A more street style-savvy Uniqlo line is the UT Project, a favorite among It girl and hipster types (Chloe Sevigny was the model for the 2008 campaign, thus its immediate hipster cred) with its numerous collaborations with graphic designers, musicians, photographers and artists. Presenting 1,000 new designs every year, the UT Project transforms basic tees of different fits with prints that reference pop culture, a boon for those who prefer to declare their “individual style” through their shirts.

Of course, the most pertinent question of a typical shopper would, be first about affordability. “Uniqlo Manila will follow our global pricing policy,” Otama promised during the media preview. “We will make our prices competitive with the local market, even as we maintain the high quality of our materials and production process.” The product display still had Japanese price tags on them, though a quick currency conversion will have a Uniqlo Bratop, an undergarment with built-in cups, at a little over P800. Kubota also promised that the Uniqlo Manila store will be stocked with the same lines and collections found in its Tokyo shops: stretch polos for him and her, the delicate prints of the Orla Kiely and Laura Ashley lines, the high-end-looking Uniqlo jeans made of Ring denim, and more. “We want to target a wide market in the Philippines, so the collections here will be suited to that range.”

The Uniqlo store opening is still a ways off but now with the official announcement made, what used to be just a buzz is now the sound of hordes of fashion followers girding up for one of the most anticipated developments in the local fashion scene.