Uniqlo links up with André Saraiva to create UT André collection

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 30, 2017

Named UT André, this exclusive line will include a dozen T-Shirts for women and six for pre-teen girls. UT André will be available in Uniqlo stores and online starting on Friday, April 7. The evening before, Saraiva, who turned Le Baron and Montana into Paris’ hippest clubs for fashionistas, will celebrate the launch inside Uniqlo Marais at 5PM.

The news emerged on the same day that Uniqlo revealed in New York that it will retail a range of clothes by cult Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, which will hit shelves this fall.
 
Saraiva first came to notice as a street artist and legendary tagger by spraying his Monsieur A logo (an OX smiley tag) over literally thousands of yellow postal boxes throughout Paris back n the 90s. His designs for Uniqlo will include his many versions of Monsieur A, which also adorn hundreds of walls worldwide.
 

The linkup with Saraiva marks the 10th anniversary of Uniqlo UT; and it’s commemorating that by concentrating on Urban Art, and collaborating with emblematic artists like Saraiva – known throughout the fashion industry as André. In 2014, Uniqlo named Nigo, the Japanese DJ and designer of Bathing Ape fame, as its creative director. He went on to develop a series of partnerships with for Uniqlo with the likes of Pharell Williams, Hello Kitty and manga master Osamu Tezuka.

“Monsieur A belongs to everyone who passes by and sees him on any wall,” said Saraiva, who recently completed an immense ceramic wall of his characters in Lisbon. And, while his street art comes for free; André’s T-shirts for Uniqlo won’t be steeply priced. For women at 14.90 euros and for young girls 9.90 euros.