In a surprise announcement, Uniqlo has appointed the former Givenchy designer as the Japanese brand’s Creative Director

Claire Waight Keller. Photo: Uniqlo

After just a year of what could be probationary work to create the Uniqlo sub-brand Uniqlo: C, Claire Waight Keller is appointed as the Japanese label’s creative director, a post formerly held by Issey Miyake alum Naomi Takizawa and Philip Lim’s branding head Ken Leung. The announcement came as a surprise to observers who had thought that Ms Keller would make Uniqlo: C a major success first, such as the collab with Jil Sander +J or the Christophe Lemaire-led Uniqlo U, with the studio in Paris. It is not clear if Ms Keller would be based in Tokyo or somewhere in the UK. The news came concurrently with the reveal that Zara has paired with Stefano Pilati to put together a co-ed capsule, expected in stores early next month.

It is not known how successful Uniqlo: C has been. Ms Keller’s past appointments at European ateliers must have appealed to Uniqlo: Gucci (2000—2004), Pringle of Scotland (2005—2011), Chloe (2011—2017), and Givenchy (2017—2020) might have stood her in good stead, but Uniqlo: C, launched last September, was not met with the wildly enthusiastic response that other collabs with the Fast Retailing brand enjoyed, such as +J and the early selections of JW Anderson. Ms Keller has leaned Uniqlo C more conservatively (but was that not already evident with Marimekko?). It did not arouse the must-have appetites of those who mostly keep an eye on Uniqlo collaborations, rather than those at, say, H&M. For the current autumn/winter season, Ms Keller has introduced a men’s line, but it still remains to be seen if that will do well.

It is not clear why Uniqlo did not choose a Japanese designer, such as Undercover’s Jun Takahashi, who has collaborated with sister brand GU, to lead Uniqlo’s creative direction. Perhaps, they desire their clothes to have a European vibe. And Ms Keller could be the one to lend the garments a continental air? Such as the wedding dress of one Duchess of Sussex? While Uniqlo appeals to a broad demographic, it is their Japanese approach to design and production—hence, clearly different from, say, Gap—that makes them more appealing than the usual mass-market labels. Ms Keller told vogue.com that she would create, for example, softer jackets for the menswear and “more interesting oversized shapes”, as if they were not already evident at Mr Lemaire’s Uniqlo U. Excitement seems deliberately omitted from the equation. While it is premature to say so, Claire Waight Keller might turn out to be an uneasy fit.