let lemons be angry

So uniqlo has descended upon our ever-globalizing island, and lb and i made an adventurous foray into the faraway land of tampines to check it out. We arrived to find a patient zigzag queue at the entrance, and a uniqlo staff announcing with placard in waving hand that "the queue starts here." On the other side of the entrance was a common Singaporean sight: uncles and aunties hovering in huddles deciding whether or not they should be queueing too, because a queue means something good, no?

But the first uniqlo turned out to be a glorified Fox, maybe blame it on the spring/summer collection that is all brights and t-shirts, and nothing of the muted and cosy knits of cold weather collections. And I am quite decidedly a non-bright girl. But I found something quite washed out and interesting in the mens' section, and not just because I had to buy something after queuing to get in.

Maybe queues are a good way to create brand presence in Singapore where most people have heard little about uniqlo. For me the hype was created by Susie Bubble and her many posts not just about uniqlo basics, but about the fantastic designer collaborations with people like Phillip Lim, Alexander Wang and United Bamboo, still at basic prices. We can do with some of that here.

United Bamboo for Uniqlo

Nicholas Andreas Taralis for Uniqlo

Alexander Wang for Uniqlo

Looking at ut.uniqlo.com I see that they didn't bring in many of the more interesting pieces for women (sheer dresstops, floral prints, graphic dresses!), but hopefully the Ion store will settle all of that. Layout-wise I think it could be a lot cleaner, or maybe it's just the jumble vibe from the opening sale that messes things up.

I surprise myself with how seriously I'm taking this, in the midst of all my final projects.