Fashion

Coming soon: The Uniqlo U collection by Christophe Lemaire

Where elevated basics reign

19.09.2016

By Su Fen Tan

Coming soon: The Uniqlo U collection by Christophe Lemaire

It was early July, and the city of Paris was abuzz with summer tourists, football fans in town for the ongoing UEFA EURO 2016, and people from the fashion industry—it was day four of Haute Couture AW16 shows in the French capital. Amidst the hustle and bustle, we made our way to the new Uniqlo Paris R&D Center, just minutes away from the Louvre.   


Here, we welcomed the calm and clean aesthetic that one will expect from Christophe Lemaire and Uniqlo, in both the clothes and space. This was where the French designer has been leading a dedicated team as artistic director of the new R&D Center to create the inaugural Uniqlo U collection. While the previous collections between Uniqlo and Lemaire leaned more towards the style of the Lemaire label, Uniqlo U was designed to reflect the Japanese LifeWear brand’s essence and DNA. 

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“Uniqlo U is a new concept in LifeWear from the Uniqlo Paris Design Center. As such, it includes new ideas that were not previously available from Uniqlo,” said Lemaire. “U represents the very essence of Uniqlo. The U sound itself has a powerful phonetic association with the Uniqlo brand, and using it ensures our collection stays rooted in the brand’s DNA.” 

 

Not many designers do refined simplicity as well as Lemaire does it. His no frills, honest approach to design equates to clothes that are timeless and highly wearable. Thus, while the collection was created in Uniqlo’s point of view, Lemaire took it to another level by incorporating fresh and novel ideas, whether in terms of design, fit or fabric. The result? A collection of elevated basics featuring clean, simple silhouettes in varying textures and colours.

Designed for AW16, longline outerwear, Uniqlo’s signature puffer jackets, drawstring-waist pants and more covetable knits make up the bulk of the Uniqlo U collection. The clothes spoke of pared-back minimalism, comfort and practicality. There are the muted colours that are usually associated with the colder seasons, then there is the more refreshing play in colours coming through the reds, teals and yellows, particularly in the women’s line. To the guys, we’d say keep an eye out for the checkered-textured knits come October; and to the ladies, look forward to adding key layering pieces to your wardrobe by way of a ribbed wrap cardi-coat and knit vests. 

 

Take a look at the campaign images here:
{insert gallery tpl=”slide-freesize.tpl” id=”Uniqlo U Campaign gallery” rid=”4388″ order=”a_tstamp”}

The Uniqlo U collection will be available from 7 October 2016 onwards at the Uniqlo stores in Fahrenheit88, One Utama, Midvalley Megamall, Queensbay Mall and online

 

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