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Kabushiki-gaisha Yunikuro ( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer. The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. Clare Waight Keller Is Uniqlo’s New Creative Director Vogue, NICOLE PHELPS, September 3, 2024 Uniqlo’s new creative director, Clare Waight Keller Monocle, 6 December 2024 Going From Royal Gowns to Uniqlo: Clare Waight Keller, who designed Meghan Markle’s wedding dress, finds a different kind of luxury at a mass market brand. New York Times, Oct. 17, 2024
/ref> Other products include the Heattech range of heat-trapping clothes BBC News 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8495127.stm and designs using licensed works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and
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In 1997, Fast Retailing adopted a set of strategies from American retailer The Gap, known as "SPA" (for specialty-store/retailer of private label apparel), meaning that they would produce their own clothing and sell it exclusively. Uniqlo outsourced their clothing manufacturing to factories in China, where labour was cheap. Japan was in the depths of a Lost Decades at the time, and the low-cost goods proved popular. Their advertising campaigns, clothing quality and new retail layouts also proved fruitful.
In November 1998, it opened their first urban Uniqlo store in Tokyo's Harajuku district, and outlets soon spread to major cities throughout Japan. In 2001, sales turnover and gross profit reached a peak, with over 500 retail stores in Japan. When Uniqlo decided to expand overseas, it separated Uniqlo from the parent company, and established Fast Retailing (Jiangsu) Apparel Co., Ltd. in China. In 2002, their first Chinese Uniqlo outlet was opened in Shanghai, along with four overseas outlets in London and Basingstoke, England.
On 1 November 2005, Fast Retailing transferred the business related to clothing manufacturing and retailing to Sun Road Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary that operated through a company split (absorption-type split), and became a holding company. On the same day, Sun Road changed its name to Uniqlo Co., Ltd.
2005 saw more overseas expansion, with stores opening in the United States (New York City), Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui) and South Korea (Seoul), their South Korean expansion being part of a joint venture with Lotte. By 2006, sales were $4 billion. By April 2007, the company had set a global sales goal of $10 billion and a ranking among the top five global retailers, joining Gap, H&M, Inditex and Limited Brands.
Fast Retailing signed a design consulting contract for Uniqlo products with fashion designer Jil Sander in March 2009. 2009 | FAST RETAILING CO., LTD . Fastretailing.com (2010-12-20). Retrieved on 2011-02-16. Sander was appointed creative director of the brand's menswear and womenswear.
On 2 September 2009, Fast Retailing announced that the company would target annual group sales of 5 trillion yen (approx. US$61.2 billion) and pretax profit from operations of 1 trillion yen (approx. US$12.2 billion) by 2020. This meant that the company was aiming to be the world's biggest specialty retailer of private label apparel. The company also aimed for a growth rate of 20% per year. The company's international business target included one trillion yen in China, one trillion in other Asian countries, and one trillion in Europe and the United States.Kensuke Kojima (2011). Uniqlo Syndrome. Toyo Keizai Shinpo Sha. Tenkai Japan. ASIN: B004PYDPOK.
In 2023, Uniqlo accelerated its global expansion, opening its first store in Mumbai, India, and announcing its entry into the Brazilian market with a flagship store in São Paulo planned for 2024. By 2023, Uniqlo’s international revenue accounted for 55% of its global sales, surpassing domestic sales for the first time.
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As of November 2024, there are 28 stores in Canada.
In May 2011, the magazine Shukan Bunshun published a story alleging that Uniqlo had forced employees at its stores and factories in China to work long hours for little pay. Uniqlo unsuccessfully sued the weekly's publisher, Bungeishunjū, for ¥220 million for libel.Staff (5 June 2011) "Uniqlo Takes Bungeishunju to Court for Libel" . The Japan Times. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
A 2015 video of a couple having sex in a Beijing Uniqlo store changing room went viral. Chinese police arrested at least five people in connection with the incident, allegedly including the couple and three other disseminators of the video, for having "severely violated socialist core values". The New York Times noted that the store's exterior became a popular venue for people to gather and take pictures in sexual poses.
As of November 2024, there are 15 stores in India.
As of November 2024, there are 4 Uniqlo stores in Italy.
As of November 2024, there are 4 stores in the Netherlands.
As of November 2024, there are 77 stores in the Philippines.
Lotte owns 49% of Uniqlo's Korean subsidiary.
On 6 December 2020, the flagship store in Myeong-dong was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-Japanese protests.
As of November 2024, there are 20 stores in the UK.
In October 2019, Uniqlo signed a lease for its first North American distribution center in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
Uniqlo expanded in the US in fall 2024, opening almost 20 stores.
As of November 2024, there are 68 Uniqlo stores in the US.
As of November 2024, there are 26 stores in Vietnam.
In June 2015, Chinese Uniqlo factory demonstrated after a factory closure, with support from the Hong Kong-based activist group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM).
In November 2015, investigations into the measures Uniqlo introduced in the wake of the January 2015 revelations found that the remedies had been only partially successful, with significant violations continuing to occur.
In October 2016, the report This Way to Dystopia: Exposing UNIQLO's Abuse of Chinese Garment Workers by SACOM and War on Want claimed that "excessive overtime, low pay, dangerous working conditions and oppressive management" were still common in Uniqlo factories in China and Cambodia.
In 2019, a number of workers reported that bullying and harassment is rife, there were "shouting rooms", and a toxic work culture. They claimed they had to work 18-hour days, had to fold seven shirts per minute, and that everyone leaves with "some form of PTSD".
In the same year, a Uniqlo advert caused significant backlash in South Korea. The line "I can't remember that far back" was subtitled in Korean, "How can I remember, it was over 80 years ago?", trivializing the trauma of comfort women.
In January 2021, Uniqlo shirts were blocked at the US border over concerns of violations related to a ban on cotton products produced in Xinjiang due to reports of forced labour. A protest was filed by Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retailing, but was denied.
At the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fast Retailing initially decided to remain in Russia, saying that clothing is a "necessity of life". Following backlash, on 10 March 2022 the company announced it would stop operating in Russia, citing "a number of difficulties, including operational challenges and the worsening of the conflict situation."
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