8 ms·

The United Nations of Uniqlo

131 points by allenleein 6y ago

ur-whale 6y ago
http://archive.is/kc5Jp http://archive.is/kc5Jp
throwaway287391 6y ago
> The American market has proved harder to crack. The 56 Uniqlo stores in America fall far short of Yanai’s plan, in 2012, to open 200 there. They still operate at a loss. Huh, that's surprising -- the stores I've been to are always pretty packed. The whole "invisibility" thing throughout the article rings true for me -- I like Uniqlo (it's more or less the only place I shop for clothes now) because the quality is usually good, especially for the price, and most of the designs are nice and plain. The last thing I want my clothes to do for me is make me stand out.
- _tik_ 6y ago
  East Asian from Singapore here. Maybe it is due to the available Uniqlo available size and styles. I seldom buy American brand due to the shape. It is too long for me and lack of "kawaii" ness of the design
csomar 6y ago
I have stumbled on Uniqlo while around Tokyo. I was surprised how cheap it is, minimalist the styles were, and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). My experience is that the clothes will last less than a year before becoming too washed to be wear. Clothes I bought from Uniqlo still look very good now 1.5 year later. Looks like they'll last for a couple more years. I'm surprised Uniqlo didn't take over the world in fashion. But EU/US buyers might not be careful enough to care about quality and just focus on how it looks like today.
- lnsp 6y ago
  The quality is definitly on the better side but the brand has the same ethical issues as H&M and others. There are other 'basic' brands like ASKET that may be a bit more expensive, but don't have these problems in their supply chain.
  - csomar 6y ago
    How are you sure? ASKET has a factory not that far from were I live. I can't find the factory anywhere on the map but looking at some of the provided photos, they don't have air-conditioners. This place becomes boiling hot in the summer. I can't affirm for 100% certainty that they are a shitty workplace but I'll bet $100 that they are as shitty as the rest of textile factories here.
- nigerian1981 6y ago
  I live in the UK and I absolutely love Uniqlo. Previously I had to wait until a visit to London but now there are more stores in the UK. The quality is amazing and here in the UK they even do free alterations depending on the price of the item.
- hobofan 6y ago
  > and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). Compared to those cheap brands, sure. I've mainly bought Uniqlo clothes for the last 4 years, and they've been decaying at about a slightly slower rate (maybe 0.75x) than similar brands to those you listed, but for each item, I estimate that it was probably 2-3x as expensive as their cheap counterpart. In contrast to that, I also still wear some skateboard clothes that run in the same price range as Uniqlo and are ~10 years old by, which hold up much better (with most of the damage coming from my cat). I don't have any illusions that any of my Uniqlo stuff will last that long. I still like Uniqlo, as they provide one of the most straightforward shopping experiences for someone who doesn't like shopping, but there is certainly room for improvement in their quality.
  - paganel 6y ago
bruceb 6y ago
What H&M had, Zara somewhat still has, but Uniqlo doesnt have is the must buy or might not see it again. Uniqlo does a good business selling decent quality clothes at a decent price that are modern classics.
- emptyfile 6y ago
  You can't sell in markets where you don't have stores and people don't know your brand. I was delighted when I visited a Uniqlo store in Barcelona, but there isn't one anywhere near me. I just read somewhere that their plan from 2017-2020 is to increase the number of stores in Europe from 50 to 100. For comparison H&M has 100 stores in Belgium alone.
- gberger 6y ago
  > What H&M had, Zara somewhat still has, but Uniqlo doesnt have is the must buy or might not see it again. And this is why I shop at Uniqlo, not at H&M or Zara. I like to ensure that my favourite basics will always be available for repurchase 2+ years after the original purchase, so I can replace a worn item.
  - arethuza 6y ago
    I wish all clothes would come with a machine readable label that takes you directly to a page to buy exact replacements or duplicates.
    - uoaei 6y ago
      Yeah, seriously, this is a solved problem in inventory management and we have the technology to spin up some infrastructure for that without too much effort nowadays, even for multinational brands. QR codes, a database, a REST API, and a static site generator. Literally that's it. You don't even need to store the webpages you generate, just generate them on-the-fly and discard them for rarer items. I was looking for some specific bike parts and found the exact serial numbers for exactly what I need and there's no way to determine if anything similar still exists. That being said, I wish semantic web blew up like it was supposed to. If we had ontologies for describing products that could be searched to find an appropriate item, that would be huge. But the scale was always limited by the nonzero rate of human error and the high rate at which humans lose interest in maintaining systems manually.
victor106 6y ago
Love the clothes Hate the work culture. I have a few friends who work for Uniqlo on the e-commerce team in the US. They all tell me that the work culture is horrible. It’s very Japanese. - Long unproductive hours gets your bosses appreciation. - Very sexist and male dominated. - They hate working remote even when it was absolutely necessary for the employee. - No respect for maternity related issues. Any company that would like to see itself become multinational has to adapt to local cultures
- hatmatrix 6y ago
  Also from the article: > As a child Yanai [Uniqlo's founder] was scared of his father, who would beat him for not finishing his breakfast quickly or spending too much time reading after bedtime. But a sense of duty lured him home after he graduated from university and he took over the family enterprise as its employees began to retire. Doesn't get much more Japanese than this.
- rogy 6y ago
  Similar experience working with Uniqlo UK staff, they would call us for support on trivial issues late at night, demanding that is was of the utmost importance some buried marketing text was changed on random content pages. They mostly sounded like they had no choice but to do as they were told, and looked very exhausted when we met them in person.
- lhorie 6y ago
  This seems to be widespread among japanese companies. My dad worked for a large Japanese multinational and on a number of occasions when japanese execs flew in, he would have to set them straight when they tried to engage in employee harassment, unruly behavior in restaurants, etc... ...and that's coming from a reputable, well-off company. In Japan, they have a term called "black company"[1] that is essentially abusive sweatshops, but for office work. There's literally genres of manga that start off w/ the premise of people dying of overwork at these kinds of places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)
- decafninja 6y ago
paulcole 6y ago
Compare to this article from 2010: https://nymag.com/fashion/features/65898/ https://nymag.com/fashion/features/65898/
iamben 6y ago
Huge fan of Uniqlo, we're very lucky to have so many of them in London. The clothes tend to be the right side of 'fashionable', ie the cuts are modern and flattering, the price is very comparable with and often better than the other UK high street rivals, and most importantly the quality for the most part far surpasses everything else in the price bracket. It's (generally) far better than buying from Zara or H&M, which feels very 'fast' in comparison. The GAP comparison is probably apt, although one thing I really appreciate about Uniqlo (especially compared to GAP) is the lack of branding and logos. You can easily build a complete wardrobe (work/pub/play) - especially if you're buying base pieces. Which is probably the reason they get a lot of love on /r/malefashionadvice/.
- wastedhours 6y ago
  Before the lockdown and WFH, I'd say about half my work-casual wardrobe ended up being Uniqlo. Very good quality, good design, and as you say, there's nothing obnoxious about their branding. If they had a similar free delivery option as Asos Premium, would probably use them for pretty much everything. Though I don't fully understand their ridiculously long trousers. Edit: as per responses, make use of their alterations service!
  - tjr225 6y ago
    > Though I don't fully understand their ridiculously long trousers. I don’t have any length issues with their pants due to my height but perhaps they are intended to be hemmed?
    - eden_hazard 6y ago
      I heard in Japan when you buy pants at retailers, they will hem it for you free of charge.
      - Hwatwasthat 6y ago
        Uniqlo in the UK do too, probably why the legs are abnormally long! I have had a few pairs from them and all have had some alteration done in store.
mellosouls 6y ago
Loved the very cool Uniqlo screensavers from years ago, made this non-fashionista remember the brand name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAMC1NizEU0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAMC1NizEU0
627467 6y ago
Their range of soft touch cotton long sleeve t-shirts have become a stable in my wardrobe for years now. For the winter they are a must. Every time I managed to travel to a country with Uniqlo I stock up with another 4 or 5 of those.
viiralvx 6y ago
Anybody interested in reading more about Japanese fashion should read "Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style". Uniqlo's story is told there as well,but it paints a picture of the history behind how's Japan's fashion scene evolved from imitating American style to becoming something unique and desirable in its own manner.
odiroot 6y ago
Uniqlo is my favourite brand. They have "skinny" sizes unlike most fast fashion brands. The clothes are also durable and have good, timeless style. Their winter undershirts are also great, super thin & breathable but plenty warm.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jointpdf 6y ago
Random tip: Uniqlo is an usual but excellent source for inexpensive hiking/backpacking/lightweight travel clothes. In particular: the UL down jackets/parkas (~9.5oz in size M), HeatTech Extra Warm baselayers, Airism underwear, wind jacket, and socks/gloves. You see a ton of this stuff out on any long distance trail (it’s high quality enough to last an entire thru-hike and beyond). Once you put on the HeatTech extra warm leggings, you’ll understand why superheroes wear tights—they’re the bomb.
- screye 6y ago
  Heat-tech and airism are both incredibly legit base layers. Heat tech is my favorite piece of clothing for New England winters and winter treks. The ultra light down jackets and weather proof parkas are incredibly convenient too. They seem to be going through a wierd cut phase, which accentuates men's chest in an awkward way and looks like dad wear unless you are really slim/athletic, but I hope it is temporary thing. (or maybe I just need to get in better shape)
neom 6y ago
Due to the Japan boycott, Uniqlo and Muji here in Korea are ghost towns, I don't know why they bother putting them in this market. it's pretty uncommon to see them busy. There is a huge Uniqlo next to my house and I was literally the only one in it yesterday.
- Andrex 6y ago
  Could you provide more information on this boycott? I'm not sure I've heard of it before now.
  - neom 6y ago
    Sure, this wikipedia article is pretty accurate[1]. It comes down to a series of pretty complex issues between South Korea and Japan. Although the current boycott is usually talked about in the news as a result of what SK perceives to be an unfair trade relationship, the tension amongst the average person I talk to comes down to the lack of apology by Japan over comfort women, and more recently the Liancourt Islands[2]. Japan has updated it's High School history curriculum to state the Islands are owned by Japan and not mentioning the disputed status, while SK teaches about the dispute. As a result of all of this, many many Koreans won't shop at Japanese brands[3]. (I am not Korean however I live in Korea) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_trade_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Japan%E2%80%... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks_dispute [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_boycott_of_Japanese_products_in_South_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_boycott_of_Japanese_produ...
    - microcolonel 6y ago
      These deficiencies in Japanese education are self-reinforcing; people who are unaware of these things will not pressure the state to include them in the curriculum. Of course, I'm sure SK doesn't talk much about their greatest moral embarrassments.
      - 6y ago
puranjay 6y ago
Uniqlo launched here in India last year and has quickly become my favorite brand. I appreciate their no-nonsense marketing. I like that they don't try to sell me an 'identity', but utility - their product descriptions focus on product benefits, not some copywriter's exaggerated idea of the self (looking at you, Nike).
mwexler 6y ago
This article and comments would read the same in the 80s about Benetton and 90s about the Gap. By being vague about identity, they got extra runway but then got greedy and flamed out. Let's hope uniqlo can manage to escape the patterns of history.
totetsu 6y ago
The problem with wearing uniqlo in japan, is you will always pass someone wearing the same things as you.
- manuelabeledo 6y ago
  To be fair, the mainstream Japanese style, especially in large cities where most of the workforce gather in offices, does not leave much room for differentiation. Something that has always fascinated me, though, is the irony of Japan being one of the leaders in street and urban fashion.
- lorenzfx 6y ago
  This might be a feature for some people, not a bug.
  - wenc 6y ago
    True. In America, it's a comedic trope -- when two people wearing the same clothes encounter each other, both of them feel the need to go home and change. It's kinda funny.
  - Hamuko 6y ago
    https://up.gc-img.net/post_img_web/2016/06/a45633d657e17ce3fb78c8adb41b6c8d_5707.jpeg https://up.gc-img.net/post_img_web/2016/06/a45633d657e17ce3f...
- novok 6y ago
  Most affordable clothing in japan is of the boring uniqlo style unfortunately. But on the other hand, many japanese when your walking around in tokyo don't really look that 'uniqlo boring' either. Way more well dressed people there than a typical american city.
Joe8Bit 6y ago
I did some strategy work for a very large UK fashion retailer who's at the complete opposite end of the "don't chase fashion" market. Everyone in that industry is trying to emulate Uniqlo's margins and unit economics. This article talks about how they produce their fabric, but the thing they realised super early is how valuable _vertical integration_ can be in fashion retail. They own the end to end process, from raw material purchase upwards. They can do this BECAUSE of how limited their selection is, if you're a fast fashion retailer you always needs new materials and new patterns and new tooling so it's incredibly hard to chase vertical integration and strong unit economics. They get savings by pushing that risk and RnD onto dedicated manufacturers in places like Bangladesh. It's 'just in time' manufacturing in a pretty extreme sense. Because Uniqlo have so much less cardinality in their stock they can focus and optimise for it. It also enables them to control quality in a way few others can.
- ksec 6y ago
  Where I could read up more on it? Or are these sort of insider knowledge? ( If so, if you dont mind expand on it in a bit more detail )
  - nindalf 6y ago
    The linked article is a good place to start. I thought it explained what makes Uniqlo tick pretty well.
  - Joe8Bit 6y ago
    My knowledge is from consulting for fashion companies, so am not sure where to point you I'm afraid! Most fashion retailers work with contract factories. They design a garment (or line of garments) and then put out a tender to a set of factories in their approved supplier list. The factories then bid to manufacture those garments. The decision-making criteria for the fashion companies vary but are usually some combination of quality on offer, price and 'time to store'/turnaround time. This tender process can happen dozens or hundreds of times a year for big, high turnover fast fashion retailers. Some of these retailers do have their own factories, but most don't. The reason these retailers need to do this is because they're always trying to stay 'on trend' and have the latest, most fashionable items at the lowest cost. They're 'chasing the zeitgeist'. Uniqlo, on the other hand, doesn't chase fashion in the same way. They have a stable set of core garments they always sell in predictable (and VERY large) quantities. This means they can negotiate longer term, much larger scale deals with manufacturers that work out MUCH cheaper for them. It also means they can go 'up the value chain' and manufacture the fabrics and patterns and tooling themselves, reducing cost even further.
frusciante19 6y ago
If you are looking for made in Japan clothing, you won't find it at Uniqlo. They are just another company producing clothing in low-wage countries to ensure higher profit margins. Absolutely no difference from the other fast-fashion companies mentioned below, except geographical.
H1Supreme 6y ago
I love their long sleeve dress shirts. I have probably every "checked" variety they offer. They hold up great. I really love their comfort sport coats. Great alternative to a sweater that can be dressed down to wear with denim. Mine always get compliments.
boojack 6y ago
Uniqlo makes up 80%+ of my "wardrobe". Minimalist design, good fitting, decent materials, at a very affordable price point. And I'm also continually impressed by their work on new materials: heat tech, tight "Chino" pants that are stretchy that I can do parkour in.
tzury 6y ago
https://outline.com/68BXAZ https://outline.com/68BXAZ
dirtyid 6y ago
Big fan of Uniqlo, curious how they fail to sell shoes in the last few years. 1-2 models of casual shoes and a summer sandals in monochrome colors every year. Well made and cheap. Always pushed to discount bin after a few weeks. Haven't seen anyone wear them outside.
samat 6y ago
I have all my clothes from Uniqlo except for shoes, wallet and a bag for 5 years now. The reason is I don’t have to think hard about it. And I can restock worn out items pretty reliably (although I wish they did not change items year by year at all).
thenanyu 6y ago
I worked in the apparel industry for many years; From what I remember, Uniqlo focused obsessively on quality control and unit economics. They have very few fabrications that are shared across many styles so they can order an entire mill's supply for a season in some cases. In this industry segment, materials costs can be ~70% of total production cost so this make an enormous impact. They outsource to factories outside of Japan, but they will send in their own operations team to do production line setup and training. Their tolerances were very tight and QC process rigorous. If you walk into a factory, you will see Uniqlo branded posters up everywhere with "10 rules of quality control" and the like. My former employer really prized hiring the same factories that Uniqlo used because we knew the QC was going to be a step above and the unit costs optimized.

131 points by allenleein 6y ago

http://archive.is/kc5Jp http://archive.is/kc5Jp

> The American market has proved harder to crack. The 56 Uniqlo stores in America fall far short of Yanai’s plan, in 2012, to open 200 there. They still operate at a loss. Huh, that's surprising -- the stores I've been to are always pretty packed. The whole "invisibility" thing throughout the article rings true for me -- I like Uniqlo (it's more or less the only place I shop for clothes now) because the quality is usually good, especially for the price, and most of the designs are nice and plain. The last thing I want my clothes to do for me is make me stand out.

_tik_ 6y ago
East Asian from Singapore here. Maybe it is due to the available Uniqlo available size and styles. I seldom buy American brand due to the shape. It is too long for me and lack of "kawaii" ness of the design

csomar 6y ago

I have stumbled on Uniqlo while around Tokyo. I was surprised how cheap it is, minimalist the styles were, and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). My experience is that the clothes will last less than a year before becoming too washed to be wear. Clothes I bought from Uniqlo still look very good now 1.5 year later. Looks like they'll last for a couple more years. I'm surprised Uniqlo didn't take over the world in fashion. But EU/US buyers might not be careful enough to care about quality and just focus on how it looks like today.

lnsp 6y ago
The quality is definitly on the better side but the brand has the same ethical issues as H&M and others. There are other 'basic' brands like ASKET that may be a bit more expensive, but don't have these problems in their supply chain.
- csomar 6y ago
  How are you sure? ASKET has a factory not that far from were I live. I can't find the factory anywhere on the map but looking at some of the provided photos, they don't have air-conditioners. This place becomes boiling hot in the summer. I can't affirm for 100% certainty that they are a shitty workplace but I'll bet $100 that they are as shitty as the rest of textile factories here.
nigerian1981 6y ago
I live in the UK and I absolutely love Uniqlo. Previously I had to wait until a visit to London but now there are more stores in the UK. The quality is amazing and here in the UK they even do free alterations depending on the price of the item.
hobofan 6y ago
> and how very good the material/quality is. I have been mainly purchasing from Celio, Mango, H&M (ie: the European brands). Compared to those cheap brands, sure. I've mainly bought Uniqlo clothes for the last 4 years, and they've been decaying at about a slightly slower rate (maybe 0.75x) than similar brands to those you listed, but for each item, I estimate that it was probably 2-3x as expensive as their cheap counterpart. In contrast to that, I also still wear some skateboard clothes that run in the same price range as Uniqlo and are ~10 years old by, which hold up much better (with most of the damage coming from my cat). I don't have any illusions that any of my Uniqlo stuff will last that long. I still like Uniqlo, as they provide one of the most straightforward shopping experiences for someone who doesn't like shopping, but there is certainly room for improvement in their quality.
- paganel 6y ago

bruceb 6y ago

What H&M had, Zara somewhat still has, but Uniqlo doesnt have is the must buy or might not see it again. Uniqlo does a good business selling decent quality clothes at a decent price that are modern classics.

emptyfile 6y ago
You can't sell in markets where you don't have stores and people don't know your brand. I was delighted when I visited a Uniqlo store in Barcelona, but there isn't one anywhere near me. I just read somewhere that their plan from 2017-2020 is to increase the number of stores in Europe from 50 to 100. For comparison H&M has 100 stores in Belgium alone.
gberger 6y ago
> What H&M had, Zara somewhat still has, but Uniqlo doesnt have is the must buy or might not see it again. And this is why I shop at Uniqlo, not at H&M or Zara. I like to ensure that my favourite basics will always be available for repurchase 2+ years after the original purchase, so I can replace a worn item.
- arethuza 6y ago
  I wish all clothes would come with a machine readable label that takes you directly to a page to buy exact replacements or duplicates.
  - uoaei 6y ago
    Yeah, seriously, this is a solved problem in inventory management and we have the technology to spin up some infrastructure for that without too much effort nowadays, even for multinational brands. QR codes, a database, a REST API, and a static site generator. Literally that's it. You don't even need to store the webpages you generate, just generate them on-the-fly and discard them for rarer items. I was looking for some specific bike parts and found the exact serial numbers for exactly what I need and there's no way to determine if anything similar still exists. That being said, I wish semantic web blew up like it was supposed to. If we had ontologies for describing products that could be searched to find an appropriate item, that would be huge. But the scale was always limited by the nonzero rate of human error and the high rate at which humans lose interest in maintaining systems manually.

victor106 6y ago

Love the clothes Hate the work culture. I have a few friends who work for Uniqlo on the e-commerce team in the US. They all tell me that the work culture is horrible. It’s very Japanese. - Long unproductive hours gets your bosses appreciation. - Very sexist and male dominated. - They hate working remote even when it was absolutely necessary for the employee. - No respect for maternity related issues. Any company that would like to see itself become multinational has to adapt to local cultures

hatmatrix 6y ago
Also from the article: > As a child Yanai [Uniqlo's founder] was scared of his father, who would beat him for not finishing his breakfast quickly or spending too much time reading after bedtime. But a sense of duty lured him home after he graduated from university and he took over the family enterprise as its employees began to retire. Doesn't get much more Japanese than this.
rogy 6y ago
Similar experience working with Uniqlo UK staff, they would call us for support on trivial issues late at night, demanding that is was of the utmost importance some buried marketing text was changed on random content pages. They mostly sounded like they had no choice but to do as they were told, and looked very exhausted when we met them in person.
lhorie 6y ago
This seems to be widespread among japanese companies. My dad worked for a large Japanese multinational and on a number of occasions when japanese execs flew in, he would have to set them straight when they tried to engage in employee harassment, unruly behavior in restaurants, etc... ...and that's coming from a reputable, well-off company. In Japan, they have a term called "black company"[1] that is essentially abusive sweatshops, but for office work. There's literally genres of manga that start off w/ the premise of people dying of overwork at these kinds of places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)
decafninja 6y ago

paulcole 6y ago

Compare to this article from 2010: https://nymag.com/fashion/features/65898/ https://nymag.com/fashion/features/65898/

iamben 6y ago

Huge fan of Uniqlo, we're very lucky to have so many of them in London. The clothes tend to be the right side of 'fashionable', ie the cuts are modern and flattering, the price is very comparable with and often better than the other UK high street rivals, and most importantly the quality for the most part far surpasses everything else in the price bracket. It's (generally) far better than buying from Zara or H&M, which feels very 'fast' in comparison. The GAP comparison is probably apt, although one thing I really appreciate about Uniqlo (especially compared to GAP) is the lack of branding and logos. You can easily build a complete wardrobe (work/pub/play) - especially if you're buying base pieces. Which is probably the reason they get a lot of love on /r/malefashionadvice/.

wastedhours 6y ago
Before the lockdown and WFH, I'd say about half my work-casual wardrobe ended up being Uniqlo. Very good quality, good design, and as you say, there's nothing obnoxious about their branding. If they had a similar free delivery option as Asos Premium, would probably use them for pretty much everything. Though I don't fully understand their ridiculously long trousers. Edit: as per responses, make use of their alterations service!
- tjr225 6y ago
  > Though I don't fully understand their ridiculously long trousers. I don’t have any length issues with their pants due to my height but perhaps they are intended to be hemmed?
  - eden_hazard 6y ago
    I heard in Japan when you buy pants at retailers, they will hem it for you free of charge.
    - Hwatwasthat 6y ago
      Uniqlo in the UK do too, probably why the legs are abnormally long! I have had a few pairs from them and all have had some alteration done in store.

mellosouls 6y ago

Loved the very cool Uniqlo screensavers from years ago, made this non-fashionista remember the brand name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAMC1NizEU0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAMC1NizEU0

627467 6y ago

Their range of soft touch cotton long sleeve t-shirts have become a stable in my wardrobe for years now. For the winter they are a must. Every time I managed to travel to a country with Uniqlo I stock up with another 4 or 5 of those.

viiralvx 6y ago

Anybody interested in reading more about Japanese fashion should read "Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style". Uniqlo's story is told there as well,but it paints a picture of the history behind how's Japan's fashion scene evolved from imitating American style to becoming something unique and desirable in its own manner.

odiroot 6y ago

Uniqlo is my favourite brand. They have "skinny" sizes unlike most fast fashion brands. The clothes are also durable and have good, timeless style. Their winter undershirts are also great, super thin & breathable but plenty warm.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

jointpdf 6y ago

Random tip: Uniqlo is an usual but excellent source for inexpensive hiking/backpacking/lightweight travel clothes. In particular: the UL down jackets/parkas (~9.5oz in size M), HeatTech Extra Warm baselayers, Airism underwear, wind jacket, and socks/gloves. You see a ton of this stuff out on any long distance trail (it’s high quality enough to last an entire thru-hike and beyond). Once you put on the HeatTech extra warm leggings, you’ll understand why superheroes wear tights—they’re the bomb.

screye 6y ago
Heat-tech and airism are both incredibly legit base layers. Heat tech is my favorite piece of clothing for New England winters and winter treks. The ultra light down jackets and weather proof parkas are incredibly convenient too. They seem to be going through a wierd cut phase, which accentuates men's chest in an awkward way and looks like dad wear unless you are really slim/athletic, but I hope it is temporary thing. (or maybe I just need to get in better shape)

neom 6y ago

Due to the Japan boycott, Uniqlo and Muji here in Korea are ghost towns, I don't know why they bother putting them in this market. it's pretty uncommon to see them busy. There is a huge Uniqlo next to my house and I was literally the only one in it yesterday.

Andrex 6y ago
Could you provide more information on this boycott? I'm not sure I've heard of it before now.
- neom 6y ago
  Sure, this wikipedia article is pretty accurate[1]. It comes down to a series of pretty complex issues between South Korea and Japan. Although the current boycott is usually talked about in the news as a result of what SK perceives to be an unfair trade relationship, the tension amongst the average person I talk to comes down to the lack of apology by Japan over comfort women, and more recently the Liancourt Islands[2]. Japan has updated it's High School history curriculum to state the Islands are owned by Japan and not mentioning the disputed status, while SK teaches about the dispute. As a result of all of this, many many Koreans won't shop at Japanese brands[3]. (I am not Korean however I live in Korea) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_trade_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%932020_Japan%E2%80%... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liancourt_Rocks_dispute [3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_boycott_of_Japanese_products_in_South_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_boycott_of_Japanese_produ...
  - microcolonel 6y ago
    These deficiencies in Japanese education are self-reinforcing; people who are unaware of these things will not pressure the state to include them in the curriculum. Of course, I'm sure SK doesn't talk much about their greatest moral embarrassments.
    - 6y ago

puranjay 6y ago

Uniqlo launched here in India last year and has quickly become my favorite brand. I appreciate their no-nonsense marketing. I like that they don't try to sell me an 'identity', but utility - their product descriptions focus on product benefits, not some copywriter's exaggerated idea of the self (looking at you, Nike).

mwexler 6y ago

This article and comments would read the same in the 80s about Benetton and 90s about the Gap. By being vague about identity, they got extra runway but then got greedy and flamed out. Let's hope uniqlo can manage to escape the patterns of history.

totetsu 6y ago

The problem with wearing uniqlo in japan, is you will always pass someone wearing the same things as you.

manuelabeledo 6y ago
To be fair, the mainstream Japanese style, especially in large cities where most of the workforce gather in offices, does not leave much room for differentiation. Something that has always fascinated me, though, is the irony of Japan being one of the leaders in street and urban fashion.
lorenzfx 6y ago
This might be a feature for some people, not a bug.
- wenc 6y ago
  True. In America, it's a comedic trope -- when two people wearing the same clothes encounter each other, both of them feel the need to go home and change. It's kinda funny.
- Hamuko 6y ago
  https://up.gc-img.net/post_img_web/2016/06/a45633d657e17ce3fb78c8adb41b6c8d_5707.jpeg https://up.gc-img.net/post_img_web/2016/06/a45633d657e17ce3f...
novok 6y ago
Most affordable clothing in japan is of the boring uniqlo style unfortunately. But on the other hand, many japanese when your walking around in tokyo don't really look that 'uniqlo boring' either. Way more well dressed people there than a typical american city.

Joe8Bit 6y ago

I did some strategy work for a very large UK fashion retailer who's at the complete opposite end of the "don't chase fashion" market. Everyone in that industry is trying to emulate Uniqlo's margins and unit economics. This article talks about how they produce their fabric, but the thing they realised super early is how valuable _vertical integration_ can be in fashion retail. They own the end to end process, from raw material purchase upwards. They can do this BECAUSE of how limited their selection is, if you're a fast fashion retailer you always needs new materials and new patterns and new tooling so it's incredibly hard to chase vertical integration and strong unit economics. They get savings by pushing that risk and RnD onto dedicated manufacturers in places like Bangladesh. It's 'just in time' manufacturing in a pretty extreme sense. Because Uniqlo have so much less cardinality in their stock they can focus and optimise for it. It also enables them to control quality in a way few others can.

ksec 6y ago
Where I could read up more on it? Or are these sort of insider knowledge? ( If so, if you dont mind expand on it in a bit more detail )
- nindalf 6y ago
  The linked article is a good place to start. I thought it explained what makes Uniqlo tick pretty well.
- Joe8Bit 6y ago
  My knowledge is from consulting for fashion companies, so am not sure where to point you I'm afraid! Most fashion retailers work with contract factories. They design a garment (or line of garments) and then put out a tender to a set of factories in their approved supplier list. The factories then bid to manufacture those garments. The decision-making criteria for the fashion companies vary but are usually some combination of quality on offer, price and 'time to store'/turnaround time. This tender process can happen dozens or hundreds of times a year for big, high turnover fast fashion retailers. Some of these retailers do have their own factories, but most don't. The reason these retailers need to do this is because they're always trying to stay 'on trend' and have the latest, most fashionable items at the lowest cost. They're 'chasing the zeitgeist'. Uniqlo, on the other hand, doesn't chase fashion in the same way. They have a stable set of core garments they always sell in predictable (and VERY large) quantities. This means they can negotiate longer term, much larger scale deals with manufacturers that work out MUCH cheaper for them. It also means they can go 'up the value chain' and manufacture the fabrics and patterns and tooling themselves, reducing cost even further.

frusciante19 6y ago

If you are looking for made in Japan clothing, you won't find it at Uniqlo. They are just another company producing clothing in low-wage countries to ensure higher profit margins. Absolutely no difference from the other fast-fashion companies mentioned below, except geographical.

H1Supreme 6y ago

I love their long sleeve dress shirts. I have probably every "checked" variety they offer. They hold up great. I really love their comfort sport coats. Great alternative to a sweater that can be dressed down to wear with denim. Mine always get compliments.

boojack 6y ago

Uniqlo makes up 80%+ of my "wardrobe". Minimalist design, good fitting, decent materials, at a very affordable price point. And I'm also continually impressed by their work on new materials: heat tech, tight "Chino" pants that are stretchy that I can do parkour in.

tzury 6y ago

https://outline.com/68BXAZ https://outline.com/68BXAZ

dirtyid 6y ago

Big fan of Uniqlo, curious how they fail to sell shoes in the last few years. 1-2 models of casual shoes and a summer sandals in monochrome colors every year. Well made and cheap. Always pushed to discount bin after a few weeks. Haven't seen anyone wear them outside.

samat 6y ago

I have all my clothes from Uniqlo except for shoes, wallet and a bag for 5 years now. The reason is I don’t have to think hard about it. And I can restock worn out items pretty reliably (although I wish they did not change items year by year at all).

thenanyu 6y ago

I worked in the apparel industry for many years; From what I remember, Uniqlo focused obsessively on quality control and unit economics. They have very few fabrications that are shared across many styles so they can order an entire mill's supply for a season in some cases. In this industry segment, materials costs can be ~70% of total production cost so this make an enormous impact. They outsource to factories outside of Japan, but they will send in their own operations team to do production line setup and training. Their tolerances were very tight and QC process rigorous. If you walk into a factory, you will see Uniqlo branded posters up everywhere with "10 rules of quality control" and the like. My former employer really prized hiring the same factories that Uniqlo used because we knew the QC was going to be a step above and the unit costs optimized.