UNIQLO’s appeal is as large as its international footprint, cementing the Japanese retailer as global style establishment. This reputation is due in no small part to its multi-faceted UT program: an ongoing collection of graphic tees started in 2007 that taps artists and pop culture icons to utilize the T-shirt as a completely new canvas. Using the T-shirt as a medium for self expression, the sheer variety of collaborators within the UT program has made it easy for anyone to find a UT T-shirt that truly fits them—in more ways than one. For the Spring/Summer 2017 season, Uniqlo has kicked off its UT program with two different partnerships: one inspired by the works in MoMA’s collection, and another collaboration with legendary artist Futura.
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Atelier Morellet, Cholet / Banque d’Images de l’Adagp.
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Atelier Morellet, Cholet / Banque d’Images de l’Adagp.
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Atelier Morellet, Cholet / Banque d’Images de l’Adagp.
Starting off with the SUPERGEOMETRIC collection, UNIQLO expands its SPRZ NY line with a new collection in collaboration with MoMA, incorporating the works of artists like Sol LeWitt, Josef Albers, François Morellet, Gego and designer Max Bill. As masters of geometric form, these artists have all utilized the elements of geometry to create works of art. The alchemization of simple shapes into something beautifully complex is something that all of the aforementioned designers are intimately familiar with. Much like the simplicity of a T-shirt, it’s these masters’ work that have turned the wardrobe staple into a wearable art piece.
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ProLitteris, Zurich
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ProLitteris, Zurich
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Project: 2017 by The Museum of Modern Art
© 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Project: 2017 by The Museum of Modern Art
“MoMA and its artists have been a muse for UNIQLO since we began our global partnership in 2013,” noted UNIQLO’s Global Co-Chief Marketing Officer Masahiko Nakasuji. “SUPERGEOMETRIC celebrates some of the Museum’s artists, who pushed geometry’s most basic components to new creative forms and expresses their artistry through the collection’s silhouettes and design.
Continuing its commitment to modern art and design, UNIQLO has also tapped iconic modern artist Futura to lend his hand on a separate selection of UT T-shirts. As someone who rose to prominence while the worlds of graffiti and contemporary art were slowly merging together, Futura built his reputation on expanding on art form that at one point existed exclusively of stylized text. Fusing the worlds high art abstract expressionism with street-level (and sidewalk-ready) creativity since tagging the New York City subway in the 1970s, Futura (and his collection with UNIQLO) represents UT’s long-standing undertaking to modernize the way we view modern art and design.
For ten years, UNIQLO’s UT has made its mark as an intersection between art and fashion. With streetwear icon NIGO now creatively directing UT, the collections have only evolved in both reputation and their ability to show customers new ideas in the worlds of design and pop culture—something that echoes across the styles kicking off Spring/Summer 2017. Products by artists François Morellet, Sol LeWitt, and Max Bill are available to shop online and in UNIQLO stores, with products by artists Gordon Walters and Josef Albers hitting stores in April. The Futura UT collection is live online and in UNIQLO stores.
