RETAIL
Uniqlo to Open Denim Concept Shop in DTLA
Fast Retailing Co. LTD opened a Uniqlo emporium at Westfield Santa Anita, about 30 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles Sept. 9, but the Japanese fast-fashion company announced it was going to open another unique store in Los Angeles.
On Sept. 19, the retailer announced that it was going to open a “denim concept shop” in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District. Marisol Tamaro, Uniqlo’s head of US marketing, made the announcement during the retailer’s LifeWear/Dedicated to Denim party at Hollywood events space called At the P.
The stated purpose of the party was to celebrate denim fabrics from Japanese manufacturer Kaihara, and to show the fall/winter ’17 season of Uniqlo’s denim, which is inspired by Los Angeles style, according to a brand statement. The company opened its Denim Innovation Center in Los Angeles in November 2016 for denim research and development for Uniqlo, as well as for the company’s J Brand division.
In the middle of the Sept. 19 party, Tamaro made the announcement on the Arts District concept shop. “We take so much inspiration from Los Angeles,” Tamaro said. It was fitting that the company would open a denim concept shop in the city.
She provided scant details beyond the announcement. The concept shop is scheduled to open in the Fall. It will be about the same square footage as a standard Uniqlo store, about 2,000-square-feet.
“It’s mostly denim, but it will feature complementary clothes. It will mostly be about the experience,” she said.
Los Angeles’ Arts District has increasingly garnered fashion retailers’ attention. In the past few years, high-end boutiques have opened doors in the formerly blighted area. Recently, Fashion star Rei Kawakubo announced that she will open one of her Dover Street Market locations in the Arts District in 2018. A Phillip Lim 3.1 boutique took a bow in the Arts District in May.
