Clare Waight Keller - Designer, Creative Director of Uniqlo

[vogue28]

The collection:



UNIQLO.COM

 

[SophiaVB]

It looks like Uniqlo - not her.

 

[Kennnnn]

It will do very well with the average Japanese consumer. I'm not sure if it has international appeal.

 

[Drusilla_]

I'm very sorry but I don't like it. It looks like Comptoir des Cottoniers mixed with Eileen Fisher - and I'm not sure what age demographic this is going to appeal to.

honestly that mix sounds not bad at all to me!

Sure they're offering a full collection but the pieces look like the kind that could slot into the wardrobes people already have, which is Uniqlo style anyway.

 

[LadyJunon]

It will do very well with the average Japanese consumer. I'm not sure if it has international appeal.

Most of it is a consequence of how oversized everything is. The outerwear and knitwear looks fine and could work very well, but the shape of the dresses could overpower the wearer very quickly. The shapes are also a bit repetitive. A couple of slim-fit items would've balanced out those A silhouettes very well.

In hindsight, I never really liked Fast Retailing's brands (Uniqlo, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Theory, Helmut Lang) approach design. It always feels too literal and single-minded.

 

[Kennnnn]

Most of it is a consequence of how oversized everything is. The outerwear and knitwear looks fine and could work very well, but the shape of the dresses could overpower the wearer very quickly. The shapes are also a bit repetitive. A couple of slim-fit items would've balanced out those A silhouettes very well.

In hindsight, I never really liked Fast Retailing's brands (Uniqlo, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Theory, Helmut Lang) approach design. It always feels too literal and single-minded.

Yes, some of the shapes could definitely work better if they were cut closer to the body.

Fully agree with you on Fast Retailing. Their complex in Ginza, where all the labels are consolidated, is a series of very disparate style departments. They probably take a portfolio approach to managing these labels, with very little porosity.

That said, I quite like Lemaire's U.

 

[disco54]

The clothes are nice , the shoes are horrible, lets make high heels great again.

 

[FashionFanatico]

my gosh, this is underwhelming.
you would never catch me in any of these garments - not even at home.

 

[Lola701]

I don’t get the criticism…
It’s her first collection for the brand. I don’t expect her to be adventurous. It needs to perform for her to really be more expressive. Even if I’m not into the Parisienne cliché, there are some solid pieces…Sure they didn’t need Clare for that, but they are…

The clothes are nice , the shoes are horrible, lets make high heels great again.

Uniqlo high heels is not something we want to see don’t you think?

 

[FashionFanatico]

I don’t get the criticism…

And i don't get the praise

It's quite bland and really boring and not fashion forward. At all.
For me she's just not a strong designer with an innovative point of view.
She rather follows stalled trends and loves nostalgia.

And to make it clear: i really like and cherish Uniqlo for it's basics!

 

[bc collector]

It's quite bland and really boring and not fashion forward

Guys...you want fashion forward...at Uniqlo? Really?!?

 

[FashionFanatico]

Guys...you want fashion forward...at Uniqlo? Really?!?

Why not?
i own some items of Lemaire's U and Jil for Uniqlo that are great classics AND are fashion forward.
That's the reason the smart owner of Uniqlo hires designers like JW Anderson and now Claire. And pays them good money for.
To get some lazy fashion backward basics from them makes really no sense at all.

 

[FashionFanatico]

to each his own favorites.
I am just not a fan of this collection and in general of CWK's designs.
it's amazing to see that she can get so much excitement with pure mediocrity.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I don’t get the criticism…
It’s her first collection for the brand. I don’t expect her to be adventurous. It needs to perform for her to really be more expressive. Even if I’m not into the Parisienne cliché, there are some solid pieces…Sure they didn’t need Clare for that, but they are…

Uniqlo high heels is not something we want to see don’t you think?

My criticism is mainly that it's not really *that* much of a departure from Uniqlo's usual merch, unlike Jil Sander's collection, which used quite a bit more 'dressy' fabrics in wool and silk and therefor covered all the occasions that their more informal core product and other collaborations don't cover.

I was expecting something a bit 'smarter' from Clare, more office-friendly and with an effortless elegance in mind, rather than leisure streetwear for a day-off... A nice skirt with a blouse, a shift dress or a suit in a fabric that's a bit more dressy than a jersey fabric made largely of polyester or in broad corduroy!

Like I said, this has got largely to do with the target prices having to be this low - By comparison, H&M's designer collaborations retail for significantly higher prices. I feel for supposedly better design from a designer that's worked for one of the leading Couture maisons, it tarnishes the name and intent for such a collaboration if the quality of the product doesn't live up. We don't know the reasons why Jil Sander didn't continue the collaboration after three seasons but I would guess her demands were already pushing the boundaries hard enough so that any of their other designers collaborating with Uniqlo were made clear to work within the price range of their usual product range.

 

[FashionFanatico]

She really played it too safe – to put it nicely.
I bought exactly one of these color blocking pleat skirts (in grey-black) four years ago in Bangkok.
At the bargain hunters wholesale paradise called Platinum Fashion Mall.

 

[THD96]

 

[rowjellies]

It’s giving Zac Posen for Gap Inc.

I guess less random than Zac x Gap considering she already did the C line with them.

 

[TaylorBinque]

I love all the uniqlo callabs because they actually work well as separates. Also thank god they let her do menswear. I own a bag from her last collection and literally everyone complimented it.

 

[j02215]

I don’t understand this appointment. Uniqlo does not need a public creative director. I cherish Uniqlo for its non-Eurocentric point of view - it’s created mainly in response to the need, trends, styles, and body types of Japan. I’m not sure how Clare can tap into that organic pov.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I don’t understand this appointment. Uniqlo does not need a public creative director. I cherish Uniqlo for its non-Eurocentric point of view - it’s created mainly in response to the need, trends, styles, and body types of Japan. I’m not sure how Clare can tap into that organic pov.

I have the feeling her involvement in the main collection will not lead to a drastic change of what Uniqlo has offered up until now - If anything at all, they will ramp up their womenswear offering with a few more feminine options that Uniqlo had so far struggled to figure out within their universe.

As I was mentioning here earlier, one of my bigger concerns has been that they are sneaking in more and more products made from synthetics and have over the years decreased their offering of more dressed-up clothing: their doubleface outerwear now only has a minor wool content and a lot of the knitwear they are pushing is now largely synthetic, too.

I can still find a piece here and there to add to my wardrobe but it’s becoming less with every season!