Loewe's designer starts a line with Uniqlo

A luxury designer at a basics retailer

In March 2017 Uniqlo announced a collaboration with the London designer Jonathan Anderson, a line for men and women built on a British heritage concept.¹ The first collection reached Uniqlo stores and uniqlo.com from 19 September 2017, and went on sale globally the following day.² It held 33 pieces, among them trench coats, tweed jackets and duffle coats, staples of the British wardrobe.²

The choice of designer made the launch unusual. Anderson had launched menswear under his own JW Anderson label in 2008. In September 2013 LVMH took a minority stake in the label and named him creative director of the Spanish luxury house Loewe.³ In 2015 his label won both Menswear Designer of the Year and Womenswear Designer of the Year at The Fashion Awards.³ In 2017, the creative director of an LVMH house signed a line for a Japanese retailer of affordable basics.

British classics, Japanese reduction

Anderson framed the project as an exchange between two cultures. "The idea of reducing something to its essence is a very Japanese cultural thing," he said when the collection was revealed in July 2017, and he named what the two companies shared: "I think what Uniqlo and J.W Anderson have in common is the idea of 'making a new product'."² His first description of the partner, at the announcement, was simpler: "When I think of Uniqlo, I think of things that are perfectly made".¹

The collection drew on British uniforms, workwear and sportswear and combined graphic statement pieces with Uniqlo's minimal, functional cuts. Some pieces used Uniqlo's HEATTECH fabric for warmth.² The designer brought the British references; the retailer brought the fit, the fabrics and the price. The tartan, the duffle and the trench were familiar British codes, and Uniqlo sold them in its own register.

The name of the line was chosen with the same balance. It was "UNIQLO and JW ANDERSON", two names joined by a conjunction rather than one brand crossed with another.

Placed inside LifeWear

Uniqlo presented the line as part of its own concept. Yuki Katsuta, Senior Vice President of Fast Retailing and head of research and design at Uniqlo, said: "This line embodies our shared vision of offering elegance, simplicity, timeless comfort, and individuality through LifeWear."² Anderson, for his part, spoke of access rather than exclusivity: "For me, the point of doing this collaboration was that I believe in democracy in fashion."²

Uniqlo had worked with designers before. Jil Sander signed a design consulting contract in 2009 and her +J line ran until 2011,⁵ and the brand had collaborated with Opening Ceremony and Pharrell Williams.¹ The French model and designer Inès de la Fressange followed with her own collection in 2014.⁶ In 2016 Christophe Lemaire became artistic director of Uniqlo's Paris research and development centre and of the new Uniqlo U line.⁷ FashionUnited set the Anderson launch alongside H&M's designer collaborations.²

Uniqlo's own framing pointed further. By describing the Anderson line as an expression of LifeWear, its idea of everyday clothing, rather than as a one-off guest appearance, the brand left room for it to continue.

The start of a long partnership

It did continue. After Fall/Winter 2017 and Spring/Summer 2018, the line returned in spring 2019 as a third collection.⁸ By 2025 the partnership is about eight years old.⁹ Anderson later describes a "really collaborative relationship with UNIQLO" and adds: "Working with UNIQLO is a great opportunity to dress a global audience."¹⁰ In 2023 Roger Federer, Uniqlo's global brand ambassador, unveils a Uniqlo and JW Anderson collection at MoMA PS1 in New York.¹¹

The structure set up in 2017 also proves durable. The partner was Anderson's own label, not the house he directed. In March 2025 he leaves Loewe after eleven years, and in June 2025 Dior names him creative director for women's, men's and haute couture.^12,13 Uniqlo states that nothing changes and that the JW ANDERSON brand and its design team will keep creating the collection together.⁹ Fall/Winter 2026, titled "Stage Notes", goes on sale in October 2026, celebrating, in Uniqlo's words, theatre, academia and the spontaneity of artistic expression.¹⁴ By then Uniqlo has a creative director of its own in Clare Waight Keller, appointed in September 2024, and the Anderson line keeps its place beside her work.¹⁵

What began in 2017 as one designer's British wardrobe at Uniqlo prices became a permanent line in the store. The luxury career of its designer, first at Loewe and then at Dior, has made it more visible each time he moved.