UNIQLO Debuts New Silk and Cashmere Collections

UNIQLO announced that it will launch quality silk and cashmere items through retail and online stores in 14 markets around the world including Japan. UNIQLO's new lineup will make silk and cashmere apparel affordable and wearable for every day. Women's items will be available in 18 different styles and approximately 90 colors and patterns, priced from just $39.90. UNIQLO is also offering cashmere items for men and women in 42 styles and approximately 330 colors and patterns, priced from just $89.90.

Securing Global Supplies of Raw Silk for the First Time, Expanding Cashmere Availability

Until now UNIQLO's silk apparel has been available only from its global flagship stores and large retail locations because top grades of the material are so scarce. In Japan, the company had to limit sales of cashmere items in 2010 to select store because of supply issues. Today UNIQLO has new partnerships with world-class silk and cashmere producers to maintain steady supplies.

Purple Fashion Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Olivier Zahm Showcases LifeWear Lifestyles as Visual Director

The visual director for the silk and cashmere marketing campaign is Olivier Zahm, editor-in-chief of Purple Fashion magazine. He is presenting new UNIQLO perspectives by capturing the elegance that silk and cashmere can add to daily life. He selected flowers as the main aesthetic motif for the silk line to symbolize feminine beauty. For the cashmere line, chairs serve as the core visual element to convey the sensual feeling of the material. The chairs are a symbol of the comfort and intimacy of home, which is a reflection of the pleasure of wearing UNIQLO cashmere directly against the skin.

British fashion model Lily Donaldson is promoting the silk collection, while American actress Chloe Sevigny is modeling the women's cashmere range. World-renowned photographer Ryan McGinley is the photographer of the campaign as well as the model for the men's cashmere collection. Artist, Jeremy Everett appears in the campaign wearing men's broad cloth shirting.

UNIQLO LifeWear

UNIQLO seeks to popularize its LifeWear concept by offering world-class silk and cashmere garments at affordable prices. LifeWear is about wearers adapting clothing to their lives rather than the reverse. LifeWear fulfills all of the rigorous, practical demands of the UNIQLO customer of today, but LifeWear leaves nothing to chance, and none of its garments are disposable "fast fashion." UNIQLO's clothing is made for life, in both senses of the term. Based on this concept, UNIQLO launched distinct design projects for all 12 core categories of its 2013 fall winter collection to blend their apparel perfectly when worn together and cater to constantly evolving lifestyles and tastes.

UNIQLO's Silk Collection

Raw materials: UNIQLO is using high-quality 6A and 5A grade silk from China* for its main shirts and dresses. It is estimated that in 2012 these grades represented just 10% of all the silk made in China, the world's top producer of this material.

Design: UNIQLO went to great lengths to maintain the luxurious appearance of its silk. Every detail, from the colors and patterns to the width of the stitching, was carefully designed to ensure a clean, modern silhouette.

Processing: UNIQLO has processed the surface of these materials with a sand wash, to ensure that they are suitable for both casual and cleaner looks. It also employed a shrink-resistant processing technique to reduce shrinkage and produce items that can be easily washed by hand.

*China ranks the quality of its silk on a scale ranging from 3A to 6A.

UNIQLO's Cashmere Collection

Raw materials: UNIQLO's team of fabric experts ventured into Mongolia, one of the world's leading producers of high-quality cashmere, to personally select high-quality materials.

Materials: At 15.5 to 16.5 microns, the raw cashmere hairs are one-fifth the diameter of human hair. It is the fineness that contributes to the signature softness of UNIQLO's cashmere. The company also uses relatively long fibers, measuring from 32 to 34 millimeters, to provide brighter colors and a softer texture.

Design: The updated design features a wider V-neckline to more effectively highlight the décolletage. Bolder color-block designs and new features such as horizontal stitching, in place of traditional vertical stitching, also ensure greater variety.

Processing: UNIQLO used smaller stitches to minimize pilling.