Clothes for a better life

Naoki Takizawa, the design director of leading Japanese clothes retailer Uniqlo, faces several challenges in his job. The most important of these, he says, is the one set by the company’s founder, Tadashi Yanai, of how to make 100 million copies of his design sell not only in Japan but also in Thailand and around the world.
 That challenge is likely to get bigger too, as Uniqlo continues its aggressive expansion all over the globe. It currently has more than 1,100 stores in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the UK, and from last weekend, also in Indonesia.
Uniqlo made its Thai debut in the autumn of 2011 with a flagship store at CentralWorld. Earlier this month, it opened its 10th Thai branch at the Promenada Resort Mall in Chiang Mai. Expansion plans are now focusing on the provinces and are part of Uniqlo’s comprehensive strategy to become the No 1 apparel retailer in the world by 2020.
The retailer, which operates under the concept “Made for All”, works with seven main brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, g.u., Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory and Uniqlo itself. The company believes that truly great clothes should be supremely comfortable, feature universal designs, be of high quality and offer a superb fit to everyone who wears them.
Showcasing the autumn and winter 2013 collection at a press preview earlier this month in Japan, Yuki Katsuta, group senior vice president and head of research and design, said the success of the company derived from its dedication to research and development of new functional fabric. Design was equally important as was listening to consumers and markets.
“Before launching Heattech, the lightweight high-tech fabric that actually creates heat nine years ago, we carried out more than 50 factory tests to make the fabric as high quality as possible,” says Katsuta. “Our Ultra Lightdown project has continued to evolve as we’ve introduced innovative technologies to create print, wool and denim motifs. The company is able to design such structurally simple garments by using extremely thin nylon for the body of the jackets with a special wax coating for a smoother surface texture. We use a very exclusive machine,” he adds.
Focusing as always on great design,
 the best materials, plus affordability and worldwide appeal, Uniqlo has just introduced its new “LifeWear” concept, which Katsuta describes as an expansion of “Made to All”.
“LifeWear comprises different projects including cashmere and silk. With our silk project, we aim to ‘democratise’ silk, allowing our customers to enjoy the richness of silk as a daily luxury at an affordable price.”
For the 2013 autumn-winter season, LifeWear appears in the form of 12 distinct design projects that blend perfectly when worn together. Takizawa, a former designer for Issey Miyake who also launched his own brand at New York Fashion Week in 2008, fully utilises the individual themes that run through the collection and for the first time, the outfits are grouped into distinctive “projects”, styled by Uniqlo’s creative fashion director Nicola Formichetti.
In addition to Heattech, Ultra Light Down, silk and cashmere, these include Fleece, Cotton Flannel, Ultra Stretch Jeans, Leggins Pants, Warm Easy, Denim and Shirts. There’s also a special project with a guest designer. Each features a particular concern with how the human body both feels and functions in this clothing.
“Above all LifeWear is about the wearer adapting clothing to their life as opposed to adapting their life to the clothes,” says Katsuta.
Uniqlo products should be anonymous and suit everyone,” Takizawa adds. “The way we make clothes has changed dramatically. Fashions never last long, which is why the LifeWear concept emphasises functionality over trends. But Uniqlo is always looking for creativity too and that’s why we have collaborated with other designers. This season, we are working with the Swedish design group, 10-gruppen, who specialise in high quality printed textiles with bold contemporary designs.
“Our Heattech product, which used to be limited to innerwear, is being used this season in outerwear too and that adds to the excitement.
“And, as I said, the challenge for us now is how we can make 100 copies of my designs become popular around the world.”