From Tokyo to New York and beyond, Japanese clothier Uniqlo has begun dotting the urban landscapes across North America. Starting in New York and San Francisco, the retailer has opened branches in Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago, with locations soon to come to Denver, Seattle, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Most of the urban areas have seen several locations — some inside the city limits and others in the surrounding suburbs. The growth has created a network linking the original locations to the areas of expansion and further to small surrounding locales.
This paper seeks to link Uniqlo and its geography on three levels. First, this paper will focus on the differences between Philadelphia-area locations. Of four locations three are located in suburban malls while the fourth is a 29,000-square-foot flagship store. The second level of will compare Uniqlo’s framing of Philadelphia and Boston during its 2014 push into these metro areas. Through promotional efforts, Uniqlo constructed itself differently in each city, but also molded itself into a mediator that helped to link the cities together. Finally, this paper will explore the framing off all Uniqlo’s U.S. markets in its 2015 #WhereUniqlo campaign. The campaign builds off a promoted Instagram hashtag and works to frame Uniqlo and its host city. The similarities and differences sewed into the brand work to connect the Uniqlo image on a local, national and global scale, but also construct a multidimensionality that cannot be ignored.
About the presenterMyles Ethan Lascity
Myles Ethan Lascity is an assistant professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University. He holds a doctorate in Communication, Culture and Media from Drexel University and a a master’s in Visual Culture/Costume Studies from New York University. His research interests include fashion branding and media consumption.