Uniqlo started off in 1984 as an apparel store in Hiroshima, Japan, by Tadashi Yanai, who learned the ins and outs of the trade through his father’s menswear shop. At a time when casual clothing was associated with young people in the early 1990s, Uniqlo introduced its specialty store retailer of private label apparel, or SPA, system. The philosophy behind the move—that everyone should be able to easily purchase clothing—rounded out the brand’s concept of maintaining a reasonable price structure, simple logo-free designs, and practical garments made of high- quality materials.

Now thought of as “LifeWear,” Uniqlo’s products are essentials sold in more than 2,500 stores worldwide, including the company’s home base city Tokyo. Today, Uniqlo’s functional products such as the HEATTECH and AIRism lines have become indispensable wardrobe staples, and the brand continues to evolve and provide new clothing experiences through collaborative collections like Uniqlo U and Uniqlo: C.

I always want to be respectful of the general public when I work. That’s why I was drawn to Uniqlo’s attitude and worldview. The brand wants to deliver good things to as many people as possible.

Takahiro Kinoshita, Creative director of Global Creative Lab Tokyo & Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.

What Uniqlo defines as clothing features a sense of beauty in hyper-practicality. We focus on essential, necessary designs, and we don’t go beyond that. We set ourselves apart from other brands not through design but through being mix-and-matchable. In other words, clothes that look good on anyone in the world.

Tadashi Yanai, Chairman & CEO of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.