Carine Roitfeld for Uniqlo

Guru of chic, Carine Roitfeld is to collaborate with Japanese high street retailer, Uniqlo on a 40-piece womenswear collection due to be released internationally in October. Roitfeld follows in the footsteps of brands such as Jil Sander, Lulu Guinness and Laura Ashley who have all previously proved successful collaborations with the brand.

Roitfeld is currently global fashion director of Harper’s Bazaar along with the editor-in-chief of her very own renowned publication, CR Fashion Book, founded in 2012. She has formerly collaborated with big names such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Tom Ford – who once described Carine as his muse.

Roitfeld explained: “I feel joy at creating new mode expressions. I am constantly asking myself what these are, and creating new clothing within the Uniqlo LifeWear concept is a great challenge. I started from the idea of clothes that I would want to wear myself, and developed this into clothes that anyone would want to wear, a woman’s ideal of clothes that make her feel transformed when she wears them.”

Her input will contribute towards the brand’s LifeWear division – a collection of modestly priced yet high-quality and innovative clothing. The former French Vogue editor is expected to be injecting her essence of French elegance into the collection – anticipate dark colours, fitted silhouettes and classic designs. Her signature style, in which she frequently teams up pencil skirts and silk shirts, is expected to make some sort of appearance.

President and CEO of Uniqlo, Tadashi Yanaj describes the 60-year-old as an “influential figure of the fashion world”, stating, “We are extremely happy to present this collection with her as our collaborative partner”. Furthermore, Uniqlo’s design director, Naoki Takizawa shared: “Carine goes to see collections all around the world, and the visuals that emerge from this relentless pursuit of leading edge fashion have had a tremendous influence on the fashion industry. I believe that a new type of LifeWear will be created through her work.” 

Emily Harris