What was the inspiration behind the Spring/Summer 2024 UNIQLO : C collection?
It was very much inspired by the people who live in and around Lavender Hill in South London, which has interesting artist communities. Not only are they in quite a cultural part of London, but they have a very interesting neighborhood with a bit of countryside and city life intertwined together. Very much a cohabitation of your work life and city in a daily sense.
I wanted to observe how people live their lives during the spring and summer. It starts very fresh in the season, so you're often wanting a lightweight jacket or a lightweight outerwear piece that sort of takes you through the morning when it's a bit cooler.
As the day (and season) transitions, it starts to get warm. So you want those beautiful summer pieces that take you through the day, and you can layer up as it gets cooler in the evening.
Can you tell us more about the color palette this season?
I always start by looking at the base colors of my wardrobe. What are the key tones that will take me through every kind of situation? In the summer, you want that lightness and freshness. So we started with a soft palette that goes from natural ecru through chino beige colors, then into khakis and darker browns. Even the black has a charcoal-ness to it. It’s not a pure hard black.
In addition to that, we created a palette of brights that come into play with these softer tones to create a really lovely dynamic of a classic pop color palette against something really soft and neutral.
What’s your intention for the collection?
The attitude of the collection is a mix between sophistication and casualness. These are two worlds that I always love to play with. Spring-summer is a season when there are a lot of occasions. You're going to someone's wedding, there might be parties, but everything's outdoors, so you want that fresh palette.
Then I also want the ease—these clothes are made for the fact that you're probably going on holiday, and not only that, you're commuting across the city in quite warm temperatures and climates. So it's that idea of lightness in cotton and in nylon coats, in case of a shower.
It's thinking about the way you use clothes in everyday life and how you layer everything together. I've thought very much about how you could incorporate an airy and light outerwear piece over a dress, and what that proportion and attitude looks like.
Do you have a customer in mind when you create a collection?
Every time I create a collection, I think about who's going to wear these clothes. I think it's important to remember that we're always on the move. So you want that transitional wardrobe you can take from day to night, that from-occasion-to-casual sort of weekend.
I'm thinking about the everyday person on the street. It's someone I connect with. I am that person. I'm always going between things. I want the collection to resonate strongly and be able to be a completely natural and easy combination of items in your wardrobe.
When you see your designs on people out on the street, how does that make you feel? Have you ever picked up inspiration from people styling this in their own way?
During the first season, I had so many people sending me pictures through SNS of themselves in the new collection that launched this September. It was so thrilling to see how everyone was playing with the clothes, and how people were styling it within their wardrobes.
It's so exciting to see that because you realize that people still get so much joy out of getting dressed, putting themselves together, and looking great in clothes. That's what I want to bring to this season as well.
What are your top picks from this collection?
There is a beautiful light cotton nylon jacket that comes with a belt that you can tie beautifully over pants or a dress. It gives you this nice funnel-shaped neck, and it's super lightweight. Perfect to travel with. The beautiful army green trench coat this season is one of my favorite colorways. This is a great piece to go over everything.
The pant silhouette in the new denim. I love a big-volume trouser, especially in the summer months. I think is the essential pant for the season. This floppy denim is a special development fabric, you’ll see it’s super drapey. It feels like the ultra comfort jeans that you've worn for twenty years that’s become your favorite.
And I love the blue dress with a beautiful pleats body to the skirt. You can wear it high or low with the adjustable spaghetti strap, with a T-shirt underneath, or just on its own. Beautiful movement. Love this piece for the summer.
Many guys have shared their love for UNIQLO : C pieces. What are some picks you have for them?
My top picks for the crossover menswear pieces are the new sneakers from this spring-summer, which come in white and black. Love this one. And the super long peak baseball hat in this lovely poplin check.
The outerwear. The lovely kind of chino piece with the big wide leg. And the cropped T-shirt. Fantastic. It’s easy to layer over and wear at the beach. And the wide-leg jeans, these is fantastic, in this beautiful wash denim color. This fits anyone and looks great.
*Since the size is for women's specifications and ranges, please consider purchasing after checking the size chart.
