Uniqlo has named Clare Waight Keller its new creative director. After joining forces with the brand in September 2023 to launch the affordable womenswear sub-label titled UNIQLO : C, the British designer will now oversee all of the mainline collections offered by the brand — from Heattech to menswear. Waight Keller will also continue to lead Uniqlo: C, which focuses on refined and tailored silhouettes for women like blazers, maxi dresses, pleated skirts and more.
“Working with Uniqlo over these past two years, I have been hugely impressed by their innovation and ability to create exceptional products,” said Waight Keller in a press release. “Working with the team, I became deeply immersed in the brand and the future they are creating.”
Based in Japan, Uniqlo is a division of the giant Japanese fashion group Fast Retailing.
“Clare Waight Keller’s work with Uniqlo: C has convinced me that she is one of the few creators in the world able to achieve a high level of balance between creation and merchandising,” Yukihiro Katsuta, Fast Retailing Group senior executive officer and head of R&D for Uniqlo, said in a statement. “I believe that the experience, knowledge, and skills that she has amassed, based on a keen aesthetic sense and intellect, will greatly expand the world of Uniqlo LifeWear.”
Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing chairman, president and CEO, added: “We are proud to welcome Ms. Clare Waight Keller as the creative director of Uniqlo. Along with her exceptional originality and wide-ranging experience, I have been impressed by her excellent sense of balance, which never forgets the perspective of the consumer. I believe that with her, we will be able to evolve LifeWear, the ultimate everyday wear, into something even richer and create clothes that will make our customers even happier.”
Waight Keller has had an exceptional career with a number of leading fashion houses. Born in Birmingham, the 54-year-old Waight Keller began her career with Calvin Klein in New York, after graduating with a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London. She subsequently moved to Ralph Lauren, working on its Purple label, before joining Tom Ford at Gucci in Milan. She also helmed Scottish cashmere label Pringle for seven years and was named artistic director of Chloé in 2011, eventually leaving to become Givenchy’s first female artistic director of haute couture and ready-to-wear in 2017. She achieved global acclaim in 2018 when she was the couturier of Givenchy for designing Meghan Markle’s wedding dress for her nuptials with Prince Harry. That same year she was voted British Designer of the Year at the annual British Fashion Awards. She left the brand in April 2020, beginning a design hiatus of sorts for the next three years until launching Uniqlo: C.
Waight Keller is set to design the mainline fashion collections for men and women for Uniqlo, and will start with a collection for the fall/winter 2024 season.
