UNIQLO Goes Manga Mad

Today marks the debut of a feature we like to call Cell Phone Photo Show, otherwise known as "Our Camera Battery Died and the Other One is Charging". That would explain the somewhat substandard quality of the above photo, although the more we look at it, the more we like its increasingly abstract qualities.
We know that its barely a few weeks since our last UNIQLO post, but we are endlessly fascinated by the Japanese retailer despite the fact that they are always out of our size in the underwear that we like.
We are also fascinated by their UT tee shirts of which UNIQLO has just received a fresh shipment. Ths time there's an extra emphasis on Japanese manga art, and maybe we are still feeling the effects of yesterday's Takashi Murakami show, but we could have bought out the whole range. Somehow, it seems like a good time to wear a picture of a cartoon character whose cultural importance is completely obscure to us. So far, we haven't seen any of our favorite Astro Boy designs, but we usually pounce on those. To provide a proper setting, UNIQlO has cleverly covered parts of the store in manga cartoons. There was also a second helping of Keith Haring T-Shirt designs and more from Jean-Michel Basquiat, in a series apparently commemorating American artists of the 1980s who, sadly, met with early demises.
More pictures after the jump.

Here's a couple of Basquiat print dresses. Do you tink that the kids in Japan will know that the "Mary Boone" print on the dress at left refers to Basquiat's gallery? We don't think so either, but Mary probably doesn't mind the promotion.

The POP shop is long gone, bu UNIQLO is picking up the slack just in time for the Eighties revival.

This also marks the debut of the new UT campaign starring Chloë Sevigny and a Japanese male celebrity whose significance escapes us. Sevigny tends to elicit a "love her" or "hate her" response, but you can count us in the "love her" camp, so to us she looks right at home.

Comments

[HLSO]

why wouldn't the japanese kids know mary boone? she's a fairly large figure in contemporary art history...i don't think japan is nearly as provincial as you may think it is. what with the internet and all.

[HZA]

The Japanese actor is Tadanobu Asano of the movie "Ichii the Killer"--very handsome guy, I have to say.

That manga shop is so brilliant to walk around in. I picked up a "Golgo 13" tee but I want to go back for the sparkly one with Lum on it.

Have to agree with HLSO, if you know Basquiat, then you might know Mary Boone, considering that Parker Posey immortalized the gallerist in the film "Basquiat."

[carmen]

why not tell people what the manga cartoon pictures came from what manga? i read #5 from the series but i dont remember the series name....and people might be interested