Fast Retailing President Tadashi Yanai Talks Uniqlo Philosophy, Growth at LifeWear Launch in Paris

by · WWD
Tadashi YanaiCourtesy Uniqlo

PARIS — Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing, touched down in Paris during fashion week to launch an exhibit focused on the company’s LifeWear range.

It came on the heels of former Chloé and Givenchy designer Clare Waight Keller stepping into the role of creative director to oversee both menswear and womenswear at the brand, after launching a capsule collection last year.

Yanai discussed his philosophy around the modular LifeWear, and said the company delivers 1.3 billion items per year that can be mixed and matched to create new looks. He dismissed the idea of Uniqlo being “fast fashion,” insisting the brand is anti-trend and relies on new technology and longevity to create value.

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“Our motto is ‘made for all.’ If you say made for all, what would top your mind could be mass produced products, but that’s not what we mean,” he said, speaking to press through a translator.

“I believe that individuality exists, not with the clothing, with that person itself,” he said, explaining his component-dressing philosophy. He said the company believes in the longevity of durable, functional garments that will eliminate waste. “It is not meant to be disposable clothing.”

Yanai added that due to the internet and worldwide dissemination of information and images, there are “more and more commonalities…the same products sell well everywhere.”

“[The] current age is about mass production, mass consumption, but we need to make sure safe and fair methods [are] how we source materials,” he said.

This philosophy has led to sustainable sales growth over the company’s 40-year history — and the Japanese retailer hit record numbers in the latest round of financial results released in July.

Global revenue was up 10.4 percent year-over-year in the first nine months of its fiscal 2024, with operating profit up 21.5 percent to 2.4 billion euros. Revenue outside of Japan was up 17.8 percent year-over-year to 7.6 billion euros, driven by the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia.

With those numbers propelling it forward, Uniqlo is continuing its retail drive into Europe, where it currently has 79 stores, out of 3,600 worldwide. Yanai said the company’s durable basics and components philosophy has resonated most strongly with European consumers.

“Europe is the region that is most sophisticated across the world…It’s the single most important region,” he said, noting the influence of fashion capitals London, Paris and Milan.

The company revamped its flagship in the Opera district of Paris last September. Next on the docket are two openings in the Netherlands, with an Amsterdam outpost that opened Thursday, followed by Rotterdam on Oct. 10.

He pegged continued European growth at 20 to 30 new stores within the next two years, but said plans are not finalized due to the fluctuating real estate conditions.

“I don’t know, to tell you the truth, if we would be able to build more, or we would have to build less,” he said. “Rent is very high at the moment, so that’s one of the barriers. It’s not that easy now.”

He also indicated that staffing shortages and long-term training are challenges for retail. “We also need good people to manage the store. Unless we build good store managers, we are not able to afford to build another store,” he said.

Clare Waight Keller and Roger Federer on stage.Courtesy Uniqlo

On Sept. 19, the company opened the first flagship of Uniqlo’s younger-skewing and less expensive sister brand GU in New York’s SoHo, and launched an e-commerce site servicing the entire U.S. It’s the first outlet of the brand outside of Asia, where it has 470 stores.

Asked if he plans to now expand the GU brand to Europe, he demurred. “We recently launched our store in America. The Statue of Liberty was a French gift to the United States. We recently opened our store in New York, and the next location could be Paris. Who knows?” he said.

Fast Retailing owns French stalwarts Comptoir des Cottoniers and Princesse Tam Tam, as well as J. Brand jeans, Helmut Lang and Theory. The company is not eyeing any new acquisitions at this time, he said.

“I do not think a new acquisition is possible. If you acquire a company, you have to change the culture, because our culture is so different from the other apparel companies, because our motto is changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom, and changing the world. So no [other] apparel companies have such statements,” he said.

He defended the 1.3 billion items per year number.

“People tend to believe that a huge number of pieces is often associated with negative image. But that’s not the case, a huge number of pieces is not necessarily negative,” he said.

The executive asserted that if garments were predominantly made out of cotton, it would reduce the arable land available for food causing a “food shortage,” and that an increase in the use of wool would results in an increase of methane gas.

“Therefore, if you relied on the natural fiber all the way through, that’s not necessarily positive. The current synthetic fiber is made of cutting-edge technology of molecular science,” he said.

“We need them both,” he said, touting the company’s new Heattech product, which is a blend of cashmere, viscose, acrylic and elastane using nanotechnology.

To that end, the company welcomed Mitsuo Ohya, president of chemical producer Toray Industries, its longtime strategic partner in materials development, to speak.

“We are convinced that synthetic fibers will be essential in shaping a bright future for clothing,” said Ohya. He added the companies are working on building a “full framework for recycling clothing” and are currently extracting feathers from down jackets and re-dyeing garments for reuse.

Toray, which produces everything from yarns to finished products, is also working to streamline its production facilities for more flexible factories and shorten lead time throughout its supply chain.

Inside the LifeWear exhibit.Courtesy Uniqlo

The LifeWear exhibit landed in Paris because it’s “the capital of fashion,” Yanai said. It houses rooms that explain the technology of garments alongside a “slice of life” exhibit that walks visitors through Ikea-style home sets. Visitors can view Uniqlo items hanging in closets or sweaters folded on shelves as actors play the guitar, sketch on canvases or read books within decorated tableaus.

Waight Keller and brand ambassador Roger Federer were also on hand for the opening in a fireside chat expressing their philosophy about LifeWear.

Waight Keller said that being in the Uniqlo universe for the last two years has been a learning experience.

“It’s been fascinating to understand the philosophy, Yanai’s philosophy and the philosophy that you feel from the customers, people who come and want to find those beautiful and quality pieces,” she said. Being on the inside has given her a new perspective. “There is this really positive thought towards what is going to contribute to society, the garments that we create, how is it going to perform for them.”

Federer added that in his post-retirement life, he has been traveling with Uniqlo on a film project. “That’s actually what I’m really looking forward to in my post-career life, not just travel between hotels and clubs — actually tennis clubs, not nightclubs — and dive deeper into the culture of each city and every country,” he said.