Apparel Online India Magazine June 1st Issue 2018 | страница 61

EYES & EARS
UNIQLO looking to expand vendor
base in India
U
NIQLO, the Japanese
global apparel retailer
that has grown from a single
store in Hiroshima in 1984, to an
impressive global network of more
than 2,000 stores as of now, is
poised for major expansion around
the world and in India. The brand’s
Founder, Tadashi Yanai has gone
on record to say that his vision is
to transform Fast Retailing, the
operator of UNIQLO, to become the
number one apparel retailer in the
world. Currently, Fast Retailing is
the third-largest fashion retailer
in the world – behind H&M and
Zara’s parent company, Inditex.
Practically, every other day,
there’s a UNIQLO store opening
somewhere in the world. And
with the brand already having the
distinction of being the largest
clothing chain in Asia, which
happens to be the fastest growing
retail region, the chances of
becoming number one in the world
is not an aspiration but a realistic
one and an achievable goal.
UNIQLO makes ‘LifeWear’ – the
clothing which is of high-quality,
highly functional, universal in
design and constantly innovate
it with application of technology
for men, women, children and
babies. The collections reflect
the Japanese value of simplicity,
quality and longevity. With the
company eyeing larger market
share, the sourcing base is
also being expanded and so
are the product offerings. The
good news for Indian exporters
is that UNIQLO is looking for
manufacturer partners in India
who can work on a large scale on
stringent guidelines that define
the ethos of the brand. “UNIQLO
is a casual clothing brand that
offers high quality products at
affordable prices and we are
committed ourselves for high
quality at the same time,” informed
the spokeswoman, in-charge of
sourcing and production at the
UNIQLO India liaison office.
The company, which already has
a major sourcing operation in
Bangladesh, set up an office in
Bangalore two years ago that
started sourcing women blouses
from India, which sold very well.
This new but bankable product
gave a boost to the management,
designers and merchants at
UNIQLO. Now they are also
venturing into other products to be
sourced out of India.
“We are currently working with
a few partners in India and are
certainly aiming to further
develop our partner network
here. The willingness and
adaptability to change and
learning new things are the
qualities we are seeking. We are
looking for establishing long-
term partnership”, the UNIQLO
representative explained. She
further added: “Our systems
are very peculiar; we need the
factories to deliver products that
adhere to our quality standards.”
It’s an established fact that
Japanese companies believe in
100% quality. “Our mantra is real
time, real situations, real place,”
she concluded.
Eventually, the vision for UNIQLO
is to work together with the
partners to achieve the highest
quality standard and hence to
grow and prosper together.
www.apparelresources.com | JUNE 1-15, 2018 | Apparel Online India
61