Why Uniqlo is thriving right now

Amrita Banta, managing director of luxury insights firm Agility Research & Strategy, says Uniqlo’s “classic and understated” collections appeal to consumers with different price points.

Amid the downturn in luxury retail, wealthy and aspirational consumers are warming to the idea of pairing designer pieces with items from midlevel brands — a trend that Gen Z has already been on for the last few years.

“I think the mix-and-match element of fashion that’s happened works for them,” Banta says. “You can wear a Moncler when you need to, but you can also wear a Uniqlo smart beige jacket and look pretty decent in it.”

That’s why Uniqlo releases new collections seasonally, whereas rivals such as Zara produce about 500 new designs weekly.

Roll says Zara has to be “sharp every day. “Uniqlo doesn’t have the same pressure.”

Its stores are also neatly laid out and uncluttered.

“All the touchpoints are very well taken care of. You will never see a box of clothing getting in your way in one of the aisles,” Roll adds.

Innovation, the backbone of the tech industry, is also entwined with how Uniqlo markets collections like HeatTech, its thermal line, and Pufftech, its puffer jacket range.

“You feel like you’re getting more for what you’re paying,” Yuille says, referring to the infusion of tech verbiage in Uniqlo’s branding.

The power of Japanese brand trust

Japan’s weak currency may be working to Uniqlo’s advantage in Japan and its international markets — it makes shopping for tourists more appealing in its home market and boosts the value of its sales abroad. However, that’s not the only reason its heritage is key to its winning streak.

For one, there’s a sense of trust among consumers for Japanese-founded brands as they have historically represented a feeling of quality and dependability, Roll says.

And over the last 40 years, the company has leaned into this, writing its own rules rather than trying to compete with Zara and H&M, Roll says.

He thinks Uniqlo comes with “a bit of this myth of the Japanese psyche. Japanese design is uncluttered simplicity, down to earth, nature, balanced in the values. It doesn’t try to pretend something which is bigger than they can actually deliver.”