Uniqlo to Fill the Fashion Gap!?

The days when Gap commercials actually made a fashion statement have been over for quite sometime. Their designs have been stagnant, bland, have terrible cuts, and since designer jeans came into the picture, their denim rack simply ignored by the fashion-conscious. So who’s to save the the American retailer from fallin’ into the gap?

Tadahi Yanai and Jil Sander

New York Fashion reports, the owner of the very popular Japanese clothing retail chain, Uniqlo, might be taking over the Gap. Tadashi Yanai wants to further the Uniqlo revolution by a mass expansion in the United States, but instead of building tons of new stores, why not just take a shortcut and buy the large chain? Uniqlo has already experienced great success with its debut in New York with designer-inspired style and quality fashion pieces at affordable (sometimes extremely cheap) prices. And things just keep looking up for Uniqlo with the addition of the internationally renowned minimalist German fashion designer, Jil Sander as their Creative Director.

The Uniqlo and Gap Connection
Try to explain what Uniqlo is to someone who’s never heard of it? You’re likely to say, “It’s basically the Gap of Japan…but way better.”

The two stores have a lot of similarities and it’s no coincidence. In 1997, Uniqlo actually adopted a set of strategies from The Gap, known as “SPA” (Speciality-store/retailer of Private-label Apparel), meaning that they would produce their own clothing and sell it exclusively. UNIQLO had begun outsourcing their clothing manufacturing to factories in China where labour was cheap, a well-established corporate practice. Japan was in the depths of a recession at the time, and the low cost, high-quality goods proved popular.

Look! Even Uniqlo’s creative department is similar to Gap’s iconic simple white backdrop, dance and song CM’s. Take a look at Uniqlo’s Mixplay featuring the Japanese poppin’ and animation crew, U-MIN.

Did you know Uniqlo is actually old-school?
Uniqlo, which expanded fast growth between 1998-2002, may seem like a recent phenomenon but it’s actually been around for over 50 years.

Uniqlo-Soho, New York

Since March 1949, a Yamaguchi-based company, Ogori Shōji (which, until then, had been operating men’s clothing shops called “Men’s Shop OS”) existed in Ube, Yamaguchi. In June 1984, Tadashi Yanai opened a unisex casual wear store in Fukuro-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima under the name “Unique Clothing Warehouse”. It was at this time that the name “UNIQLO” was born, as a portmanteau of the words “unique” and “clothing”. In September 1991, the name of the company was changed from “Ogori Shōji” to “Fast Retailing”, and by April 1994, there were over 100 UNIQLO stores operating throughout Japan.

Uniqlo is now in Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, New York and London.