By Isaac Yeap
As Winter in the West is almost coming to an end, fashion labels around the world have already started releasing their Spring/Summer 2019 collections. For Malaysians, the word ‘Spring/Summer Collection’ breathes a sigh of relief as we can finally purchase clothes that we can actually wear in this searing heat of a climate.
That is also inclusive of the current king of affordable basic-wear, UNIQLO, which now, champions their products as LifeWear, taking inspiration from the Japanese values of simplicity, quality & longevity. We got an exclusive look to their 2019 Spring Summer Collection last week to check out what do they have to offer for the coming year.
A bungalow in Bangsar sets the stage for the show. The house is then divided into 3 different settings (office, living room lounge, & activewear) to showcase the up & coming apparels worn by models. Reason here being that according to Uniqlo, LifeWear can be used in all occasions, and at all times. Interesting pitch.
Each setting features a rack of clothing that showcases a teaser of what to expect from the brand coming 2019. At the living room lounge, it features the latest design of AIRism, UNIQLO’s take on breathable clothing, paired with light knits, polo shirts & UNIQLO’s signature EZY Cotton Pants that comes with stretchy fabric, for added comfort.
Moving on to the Office setting, the collection features staple work wear with a formal yet casual flair. All of those can be found in the form of KANDO Jackets, which is a material lined with Airdot fabric with anti-microbial & odor functionality, perfect for our Malaysian hot & humid weather. Aside from the KANDO series, UNIQLO also features the EZY Ankle Pants which is similar to the EZY trousers but with a more contemporary fit, non-iron (Wrinkle Free) Shirts, & 100% rayon blouses for women as also part of their office wear.
Finally, we head to the Activewear section, which oddly enough featured at a kitchen setting. The Activewear rack features several water resistant jackets that comes in bright summer-y colors like red, blue, green & yellow, coupled up with bright & bold prints from the UT collections.
This showcase also featured some of the best collaborations by UNIQLO for the year 2019. Amongst them are the UNIQLO UU collection with Christophe Lemaire, UNIQLO X Ines De la Fressange, & UNIQLO x Hana Tajima. However, those features are extremely limited to the basic items instead of showcasing the full collection.
Overall, we dig the concept with scenes of real life application & settings. However, the showcase of clothing was extremely limited & definitely slightly disappointed with the lack of UNIQLO UU in the showcase as we were both extremely excited to check that out firsthand, but nevertheless, it was a great event in demonstrating the different technologies UNIQLO has to offer in their arsenal of clothing.
