Antwerp, Belgium - UNIQLO today announces that it will open its first store in Belgium, in Antwerp, at Meir 67-69, on 2 October 2015. With a total sales floor of approximately 1,320 square meters over two levels and a mezzanine floor, it will be a large-scale UNIQLO store featuring men's, women's, and kids' clothing. In addition to the 2015 Fall/Winter collection, customers will also find the collaboration line created jointly with apparel brand Lemaire, led by Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran.
"Our first store in Antwerp, an important and influential fashion city, marks our arrival in the Benelux region," said Takao Kuwahara, Fast Retailing Group Senior Vice President and UNIQLO Europe Chief Operating Officer. "UNIQLO has so far built a presence in London, Paris, Moscow and Berlin, and I am pleased that the time has come for us to expand on our success in Europe by opening a first store in Belgium. We are very excited to introduce our brand and our products to customers across Benelux."
UNIQLO Brand and LifeWear
UNIQLO aims to provide high-quality, well-designed and affordable clothes for people to wear everyday. Clothes that are functional, but constantly being improved, offering more warmth, more lightness, a better design, and with a focus to bring better comfort to the wearer's life. The company's unique approach is visible in its products, particularly such core items as its Ultra Light Down jackets, Extra Fine Merino and Cashmere sweaters, Heattech and Jeans. It is with this in mind that UNIQLO calls its clothes 'LifeWear.' In fact, the simplest designs are often hiding the most thoughtful and modern details. LifeWear is 'simple made better'.
European Expansion
UNIQLO, an abbreviation for 'Unique Clothing Warehouse', was first established in Japan in 1984. The company currently has more than 1600 stores across 16 countries worldwide, and Belgium will become UNIQLO's 17th market. In Europe, the company operates 26 stores in four countries, having launched in the UK in 2001, France in 2007, Russia in 2010, and Germany in 2014. Belgium is UNIQLO's fifth market in Europe, reflecting the next step in the company's European expansion.
People Campaign Featuring Six Faces of Antwerp
UNIQLO today also reveals the cast of the Antwerp People Campaign to celebrate its arrival. Bent Van Looy, Helena Eeckeleers, Felix Denayer, Joke De Coninck, Mark Colle, and Francine Martens make up the diverse cast of six, with photography by Frederik Vercruysse.
Spanning across different parts of society, including musicians, sportsmen, craftspersons, models and entrepreneurs, each person in our People Campaign has a special connection and relevance to the scenery of Antwerp. They will showcase how UNIQLO LifeWear fits seamlessly into the daily lives of every person, regardless of age, personal background or style.
- Bent Van Looy is a singer, musician, artist, style icon, and TV personality. As the frontman of Das Pop and the drummer of Soulwax, he travels regularly around the world. In 2013, he released 'Round the Bend', his first solo album. He is currently based in Paris but returns regularly to Antwerp, where he grew up and still has a strong connection with.
- Helena Eeckeleers combines her marketing studies at the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool with a modeling career. She is passionate about fashion and loves to spend time in the south of Antwerp.
- Felix Denayer is a professional field hockey player who won the 'Golden Stick' for Best Belgian Hockey player twice. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed for the national team, the Red Lions. While continuing to be the captain of his local club in Brasschaat, the KHC Dragons, Felix combines his love for the sport with economic studies at the University of Antwerp.
- Joke De Coninck is the hippest barista in town. She spends most of her time working in Caffenation, a renowned coffee bar in Antwerp, or hanging about town with her two adorable kids.
- Mark Colle is one of the most sought-after florists in the world, and knows how to transform long-forgotten flowers into amazing installations. This has gained him international recognition and made him the no. 1 choice for haute couture houses. However, his flower creations are available for everyone, in his Antwerp flower shop Baltimore.
- Francine Martens is the most cheerful woman you have ever seen and a legend in Antwerp. She has worked for 50 years at bakery Goossens, the smallest but most authentic bakery in the center of Antwerp where people queue all day long. Francine retired a few years ago, but is still very much linked to the bakery.
For more information, please visit http://www.uniqlo.com/be/ and follow us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/uniqlo.belgium and on Instagram at @uniqlo_be.
Photos of the People Campaign Featuring Six Faces of Antwerp.
Bent Van Looy http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_1509081.jpg
Helena Eeckeleers http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_1509082.jpg
Felix Denayer http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_1509083.jpg
Joke De Coninck & Willem http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_1509084.jpg
Mark Colle http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_1509085.jpg
Francine Martens http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_1509086.jpg
About UNIQLO and Fast Retailing
UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under seven main brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory, and UNIQLO. With global sales of approximately 1.38 trillion yen for the 2014 fiscal year ending August 31, 2014 (US $13.6 billion, calculated in yen using the annual average exchange rate to the end of August 2014 of $1 = 101.5 yen), Fast Retailing is one of the world's largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Japan's leading specialty retailer.
UNIQLO continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world's most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a truly global brand. Today the company has a total of more than 1,600 stores in 16 markets worldwide including Japan, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. and the U.S. In addition, Grameen UNIQLO, a social business established in Bangladesh in September 2010, currently operates several Grameen UNIQLO stores in Dhaka. UNIQLO manages an integrated business model under which it designs, manufactures, markets and sells high-quality, casual apparel. The company believes that truly great clothes should be supremely comfortable, feature universal designs, are of high quality and offer a superb fit to everyone who wears them.
With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, Fast Retailing is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere. For more information about UNIQLO and Fast Retailing, please visit www.uniqlo.com and www.fastretailing.com.
For media queries, please contact
Karin Struys
UPR Antwerp
+32 3 230 30 92
karin@upr-corporate.be
Or
Aldo Liguori
Fast Retailing Corporate PR
+81 3 6865 0960
Aldo.Liguori@fastretailing.com