4/27/2005

If you don’t know Uniqlo and you live in the US, start looking forward to the day they will open shops there, because apparently they are seriously talking about it. If you live in the UK, go there and buy lots of stuff because apparently sales are not going so well. If you are in Japan, you must be blind. If you are anywhere else, tough luck…

Uniqlo is a chain of clothes stores with many shops everywhere in Tokyo, and throughout Japan. They sell all kind of clothes and accessories at very affordable prices and overall they are comparable to GAP in terms of quality and style, except much cheaper and with more choice in the “basic” stuff. Overall, Uniqlo has a bad reputation among snob people, and a very good reputation among people who’d rather buy a white T-shirt and a grey cotton pair of socks somewhere else than at (insert very expensive brand here that manufacture their products in China anyway)…

But what Uniqlo does VERY WELL, is their T-shirt campaign just before Summer. The one for this year, “T05″, has just started, and it is full of goodness (if you don’t feel like taking my word for it, just go and visit the website).

Why are these T’s so great, you ask. And I answer. Every year now, Uniqlo summer T-shirts series features a whole bunch of designers and studios, some famous, some less famous. But many of them and many very different designs. But that is not all of course: they also got the rights for some Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Roy Lichtenstein. So you get your usual cliche stuff, but you also have a few very recognizable yet original designs. But there’s more. They also got the rights for certain Fonts from the Linotype Foundry too. T-shirts with the name of the font written proudly on the chest, in its own typeface. This year, Eurostile and Gill Sans are really extremely cool. Or maybe I’m a geek. Difficult to know for sure, sometimes…

And if you’re not satisfied yet, they also have a whole series of american Colleges logos, and also music instruments/equipment brands. Oh, and by the way, most of these designs come in a choice of several colors shirts. Enough?

So, cool designs, but that happens everywhere all the time, you say. And you are right. But that is because I haven’t finished yet. I haven’t mentioned that except for the Warhol/Haring/Lichtenstein series that sell for 1,500 yen per shirt (that means less than 15$), the other series sell for 1,000 yen each (i.e. less than 10$). And we are talking silk screen printing on good quality thick cotton shirts… Now, go visit their (flash) website and dare telling me there is not one shirt you would spend 10 bucks for (and look sexy all summer)!

Come on, which ones do you like most?