SOMETIMES, when I’m feeling down, I seek refuge in my favorite comfort food (a certain chicken meal that brings joy) to make myself feel better. And when I have to go out but I’m feeling low, I wear Uniqlo.
Since it came to the country five years ago, the Japanese brand slowly built itself as a feel-good destination for shoppers. It gives the term “retail therapy” more meaning. In a mall, I would invariably gravitate toward its store. I’d just browse or stare or check out what’s new, not necessarily buying.
Uniqlo has carried items that bring childlike glee, especially its UT (Uniqlo T-shirt) range celebrating beloved icons from the music, cartoons and the movie world. There are Disney characters, Star Wars, Marvel superheroes, rock bands and Lego. What I love most, though, are the Peanuts characters, due to the influence of my father (who collected newspaper clips of the cartoons) and my sister Margie (who collects anything Snoopy).
These delightful characters are so familiar to Filipinos that the brand recently opened a dedicated store section for UT at one of the biggest malls in the land.
“UT is an important part of the Uniqlo LifeWear philosophy, so we are excited to be opening UT at SM Megamall. As the biggest Uniqlo store in the Philippines, it is the perfect location to showcase the new collection’s wide range and content,” said Uniqlo Philippines COO Katsumi Kubota at the opening.
For Spring/Summer 2017, the UT Collection is about pop culture and graphic themes. Futura, an abstract expressionist, designed shirts for males with a “mature perspective” of his native New York art scene. For women, Épice Design created floral prints from scarves. Kaws x Peanuts focused on Snoopy, putting X’s on the beloved beagle’s eyes.
The breeze from the West Coast comes to mind when wearing the Mickey Blue UT shirts, with the world’s most famous mouse rendered in dyed indigo blue.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars and the anticipated release of The Last Jedi, UT collaborated with three artists for a special collection geared not just for geeks. They are James Jarvis from London, Kevin Lyons from New York and California-based, Canadian-born Geoff McFetridge.
“All of the wonderful UT collections we offer reinforce our commitment to making the good lives of Filipinos better through great clothing that helps our customers express their love for pop culture and their individualism.”