GU, Uniqlo’s trendier sibling, is opening its first store outside Asia in SoHo, collaborating with the subversively witty Jun Takahashi of Undercover.
Uniqlo, the Japanese retail behemoth owned by Fast Retailing, takes in roughly $2.5 billion in annual profits and more than 2,500 stores globally, including 61 in the United States. It is known for its smart, affordable basics — cashmere and merino sweaters, Ultra Light Down jackets and tailoring — that are conservative and classic, yet hip to the times. The same description applies to Uniqlo’s robust fashion collaboration machine.
The practice of mass brands collaborating with runway designers is now ubiquitous — and mutually beneficial. The financial powerhouses get the imprimatur of chic, and haute designers get a giant marketing budget with which to reach new customers.
Typically, the big brands place their bets on designers with the household-name fame and flash of a Karl Lagerfeld or Versace. But Uniqlo has favored more quiet, studious members of luxury’s head-of-the-class. Jil Sander, JW Anderson and Lemaire were all tapped by Uniqlo for successful collaborations that lasted several years, not just a season.
If Uniqlo is the popular, overachieving, Type A child in the Fast Retailing family, then GU (pronounced like the letters G and U) is its trendier, more creative and progressive sibling. GU sets itself apart from competitors by offering one-tenth of the number of items that are “curated” in the name of lowering environmental impact and waste.
Now GU is coming to America. Today, GU, which operates 470 stores in Asia, opens its first flagship outside the continent, at 578 Broadway in SoHo. E-commerce and an app will also be released today in the United States.
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