When it comes to on-trend, affordable clothing, the United States has historically lagged behind the rest of the world. In the 2000s, editors would return from trips to Europe raving about Topshop and Zara, flaunting expensive-looking purchases that cost pennies compared to the luxury brands they were there to cover. As a result, a certain level of buzz and intrigue preceded these brands’ eventual stateside debuts. Even Japanese retailer Uniqlo‘s reputation for shockingly affordable cashmere sweaters and down coats created anticipation ahead of its first New York store opening in 2006.
Today, most of these brands are omnipresent across the country and online, alongside various newer and even cheaper competitors. But Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing believes there’s room for one more — one that most Americans have never heard of: GU, a “sister brand” to Uniqlo, has opened the doors to its first store outside of Asia — a 10,225-square-foot flagship in Soho, New York (just a stone’s throw from Uniqlo). A U.S. e-commerce site is also now shoppable nationwide.
In August, to familiarize American editors with the brand, GU invited a group of us to Tokyo, where its local popularity was impossible to ignore, even outside of our brand-immersive itinerary. The stores are ubiquitous in every neighborhood and packed with young shoppers. A 20-something girl I sat next to on the train happened to be wearing GU head-to-toe, and confirmed that the brand is indeed very Big in Japan.
Of course, there’s no guarantee of similar success in a crowded market nearly 7,000 miles away. So, what does GU have to offer us — beyond another fast-fashion brand?
Before we dive in, a quick pronunciation lesson: You say the letters “G” and “U” (not “goo”); it’s inspired by jiyū, the Japanese word for “freedom,” a big part of its messaging as it enters the (so-called) “land of the free.”
Shopping at GU: not quite Uniqlo
Photo: Courtesy of GU
Shopping at GU will feel familiar to anyone who’s experienced Uniqlo, even though the brand employs its own separate creative and executive teams. The stores are clean, well-lit and minimally designed with plenty of fitting rooms and clear signage providing easy navigation as well as product info and pricing. Items are neatly hung and folded, carefully organized by category. Differences lie in how product is styled and merchandised: The outfits seen on models and mannequins skew younger and trendier, and while there are technically separate sections for men and women, there’s more overlap between the two, with female mannequins dressed in men’s clothing and vice versa, encouraging shoppers to pick from both regardless of gender identity.
As CEO Osamu Yunoki describes it, Uniqlo and GU are aligned in mission — “to deliver people happiness and joy and satisfaction through very good clothing” — leveraging Japanese design and efficient supply-chain management to offer “good quality things at a low price to enrich people’s daily life.”
“The difference is the concept of the brands,” he continues. “Uniqlo is high-quality, high-function, basic fashion, but GU is more mass and trendy fashion at an even lower price.” In Japan, their stores are often side-by-side, and that’s by design. “Sales of both brands increase because the same customer will shop at both stores.”
Photos: Courtesy of GU
At a multi-level store in Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood, where GU is housed under the same roof as Uniqlo, Theory and other Fast Retailing-owned brands, I probably tried on a dozen items. Though prices are a bit lower than Uniqlo, I didn’t notice a significant difference in quality. Some materials may not impress fabric snobs, but the brand’s Heavyweight Sweat collection is a highlight: I took home a classic half-zip men’s sweatshirt made from 80% cotton and 20% (recycled) polyester that looks and feels far more expensive than it is, as well as a Miu Miu-esque grey pleated midi skirt that garnered several compliments when I wore it to New York Fashion Week. These were gifted, but I honestly wish I’d purchased more.
Price-wise, in the U.S., most apparel items — from jeans to skorts to sweaters — are in the $20-$40 range. The size range is a fairly limited XS-XL. There are also plenty of affordable accessories, including shoes, handbags, socks, jewelry and hair clips.
GU’s approach to trend-driven fashion is decidedly not like these other brands; it is, one could say, comparatively demure, mindful even. As Yunoki clarifies during our interview, “GU offers more fashion, but it’s not too edgy; it’s well balanced.” Its design team hones in on key trends it believes will have wide appeal and sustained relevance. (For instance, barrel-leg jeans were a big push when I was in Japan, and still are, though the brand will introduce the silhouette in more fall-ready fabrications and colors as temperatures dip.) The resulting assortment could be described as versatile wardrobe essentials designed through a lens of trendiness — appealing to Gen-Z and young millennial shoppers who don’t necessarily need or want a flashy, new, ultimately disposable outfit for every single #OOTD.
Is it fast fashion?
Photo: Courtesy of GU
Internally, GU calls its value proposition “Mini edit Max,” with “mini” referring to its pricing and a tight curation of products, and “max” referring to style and quality, resulting in “more styling possibilities with fewer products,” per a press release. It begs the question, how do they get prices even lower than Uniqlo’s?
“The reason why we can offer [these prices] is that, basically, the fabrics are different,” Yunoki explains. “Uniqlo tries to use the highest quality in fashion and we utilize the good quality, but not the highest.” The factories are also different, and while they have different management, “many of them are run by the same company,” according to Yunoki. “We share the philosophy of our group with that [that company], then they understand [our] standards.” (The items I took home were made in Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, per their tags.)
The “Mini edit Max” strategy is also an important factor. “We narrow down the number of items, then the efficiency of the supply chain is dramatically improved, including the material procurement, sewing, delivery, sales, marketing, everything is dramatically improved. So we can steadily offer a good quality product at a low price.”
Photos: Courtesy of GU
In other words, yes, GU products (like Uniqlo’s) are mass-produced, but at a slower pace and with far less variety than fast-fashion competitors, some of whom release over 1,000 new SKUs in a week. Per Yunoki, the brand does release new items every week or so, but only a few.
“If you go to the global trend-fashion brands, they have more than 10 times our lineup or 100 times. So they are offering a different type of value: Customers can choose from a huge variety of items, which we are not doing,” he explains. “Our concept is not to produce any single item that’s not necessary. [With] supply and demand coordination, we are calculating [production needs] every time so that we will not waste even a single item.” The brand is also trying to use more “sustainable materials” in production, he notes.
It’s smart positioning, especially as awareness of fast fashion’s devastating environmental and social consequences grows, and as most Gen-Z consumers claim to value ethics and transparency — even if some of their purchasing habits conflict with that. Regardless of GU’s factories’ actual practices, young shoppers can feel as though they’re putting their (limited) money where their mouth is.
GU also installs boxes in each store where customers can throw items they’re done wearing, which are then donated to those in need, like refugees and unhoused communities, per the brand.
U.S. expansion
Photo: Courtesy of GU
GU isn’t going in blind with this U.S. launch. It’s learned a lot from Uniqlo, like the importance of tailoring product and experiences to the region at hand. Though, much of what Americans apparently appreciate when it comes to shopping, it learned, is distinctly Japanese, per Yusoki: “a kind of Japanese approach to make the sales floor as clean as possible all the time, and then displaying the product as precisely as possible. Also, regardless of the price range, price point, we try to offer a very friendly and kind sales staff.”
It also tested American waters with a pop-up in New York in 2022. “What we learned through the experience of the pop-up store was two major differences between Japan and New York,” says Yusoki. “One is size, so the length to the hands and the proportions of the waist and hip are different. So we decided to change the sizing and the patterns.” The other is styling preference: “In Japan, people tend to prefer to hide the body shape or skin compared with the U.S. On this point, the Japanese are very special from the [rest of the] world, so we changed our styling in stores, on mannequins.” In September of 2023, it also established a product development base in New York with local hires, both to address the local market and to inform design globally.
In terms of marketing, social media and word of mouth were the biggest traffic drivers for the pop-up, so the brand is focused on social media as well as in-store events and activities that appeal to “as many people as possible.”
GU x Undercover “Kosmik/Noise.” Photo: Courtesy of GU
GU also has a clear understanding of the power of designer partnerships to build buzz; thus, the U.S. launch coincides with that of a collaboration with Undercover, the Japanese streetwear label designed by Jun Takahashi. Priced less than $100, it encompasses 22 styles for all genders, including track jackets and pants, stadium jumpers, logo tops and convertible items with detachable sleeves and hems, as well as NYC exclusives like “Big Apple” graphic tees and ripstop tote bags.
As for GU’s future stateside ambitions, Yusoki definitely seems excited about expansion, though he’s instructed by the PR team not to reveal anything during our interview (thus implying that there is something to reveal).
“To be honest, I can tell you no specifics, but of course I would like to expand our store networks over the U.S. just like Uniqlo has been doing in the U.S.,” he shares. “But we’re focused on the first store in Soho and e-commerce as well, to make it a big success. Then we can naturally expand our stores.”
Disclosure: GU covered travel and accommodations for my trip to Tokyo to learn about the brand.
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Source: Fashionista.com