Uniqlo x KAWS SS16 UT Collection
The first half of 2016 has been particularly busy for Uniqlo – its collaboration with Lemaire released just a few weeks ago (the stock cleared as quickly as it was put on the racks), Skepta and five other individuals signed as ambassadors, and now the newly announced collection with KAWS for Uniqlo T-Shirts (UT), scheduled to be released in May. The UT collection first launched back in 2003, since then Uniqlo has produced various collections from that range that combine fashion and authentic pop culture such as its SPRZ NY collection – featuring Keith Haring, Piet Mondrian, and Jean Michel Basquiat’s artworks – and more popular theme-based ones like Star Wars and Disney. Judging by the graphics on the KAWS iteration of UT, it’s anyone’s guess as to what the designer’s speciality is, but if it isn’t, we’ll help you figure it out.
Brian Donnelly, or KAWS as he’s more popularly referred to, is a Brooklyn-based artist who enjoys experimenting on different mediums — think plastic toys, paintings, and graphic design. If there’s space for him to create something, he’ll use it. He’s worked on projects with popular brands such as A Bathing Ape (UT’s Creative Director, NIGO, is the guy who founded BAPE), Kung Faux, and DC Shoes to name a few, but before he established himself as an artist and designer, he was briefly an animator for Disney — his assignments included 101 Dalmatians, Daria, and Doug. Pretty cool. With the exception of a few t-shirts, the designs on the t-shirts are plain, so we’d definitely recommend purchasing the more colourful pieces as those reflect KAWS’ signature better.
Check out the t-shirts below:
The UT x KAWS SS16 Collection will be available in May. More from Uniqlo Malaysia here.