The time has come, our fellow Disney-loving friends. After months of anticipation, Uniqlo has finally launched their “Magic For All” collection, a range of “wearable childhood dreams” made in collaboration with Disney.
Over the weekend, we were ushered to the Uniqlo flagship store in Shanghai by our friends from Uniqlo Malaysia. It was a weekend well spent as we got to experience firsthand the world’s largest Uniqlo outlet and also, the first Uniqlo “Magic For All” concept store!
What more, we also got to meet and speak to Mr. Tadashi Yanai aka Mr. Yanai-san, the founder of Uniqlo, as well as Mr. Josh Silverman, Disney Consumer Products’ executive vice president of Global Licensing.
On Uniqlo’s decision to work with Disney, Mr. Yanai-san expressed that he held a very high regard for Disney, calling it the world’s #1 brand. He said that Disney has so much beautiful content, leaving lots of room to explore for the collaboration. Josh Silverman added that has been a great honour to work with Uniqlo, explaining that both Disney and Uniqlo share similar great values – providing quality, innovation, and wonderful experiences for fans and guests.
Amongst the many surprises presented to the press (aside from the breathtaking press preview) was Mr. Yanai-san’s lifelong dream of working with Disney one day. Mr. Yanai-san revealed that he actually visited Disneyland in a time way before Uniqlo, at the tender age of 18.
He went to the United States on a ship and one of the things that he really wanted to do was to visit Disneyland:
I went by bus to Disneyland and the parking was so huge! There were so many parking lots that I didn’t even know where or how to get my bus to go back to my hotel. I remember wandering around just looking for my bus. Disneyland was just fun, it was exciting!
His experience at Disneyland, as well as his love for classic characters from the older Disney titles such as Snow White, Dumbo, and Pinocchio, greatly inspired him to want to someday do something with Disney.
A childhood dream, we dare say 🙂
Josh Silverman, on the other hand, talked about what working with Uniqlo means to Disney and Disney lovers.
A fan of Uniqlo’s HEATTECH innovation, he revealed that the “Magic For All” collection brings to life (in product) not only the well-loved Disney characters but also the great stories of other Disney brands such as Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar:
Disney is universal and there’s something for everybody, and it’s for all ages. It’s something that we think about a lot and it means a lot to us – whether you’re talking about Mickey or Minnie, or Pixar, or Marvel, or Star Wars. The wonderful thing is the emotional connection that we have with these characters and their stories..the product allows us re-experience and have that emotional connection again with the stories. However you experienced them whether it’s TV or films or interactive or go to a Disney park or whatever it may be..that’s really special.
Of course, Disney fans from around the world have been nervously sitting at the edge of the seats for more details on Uniqlo’s unprecedented partnership with the animation juggernaut since it was first announced.
And now that they’ve got a taste of what the “Magic For All” collaboration has to offer, the question is, “What else is coming?”
We asked both Mr. Yanai-san as well as Josh Silverman on what other characters or stories from Disney titles that fans can expect to see in the coming months.
To which Josh replied:
It’s a great question and I think..that we’re so lucky to have such a great and robust portfolio of brands and characters and we’ll continue to create great stories and so..we’re very, very excited about bringing so many more of them to life with great apparel so..wait and see.
Mr. Yanai-san, on the other hand, revealed that fans can expect more “Star Wars” apparel to be released via Uniqlo and Disney’s “Magic For All” collection this December, in conjunction with the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“.
He added, “We’re really eagerly awaiting the release of the film!”
This is just the beginning, you guys 😉
The Uniqlo x Disney #MagicForAll collaboration* will be made available in phases starting today (Monday, 28th September) at a Uniqlo outlet near you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRsV5sG7dfo
For more information, visit Uniqlo Malaysia’s website or Facebook page. Uniqlo Malaysia is also on Instagram, if you want to get first dibs information on their collections 🙂
*Availability of “Magic For All” items will vary from store to store with the large stores (One Utama, Midvalley Megamall, Fahrenheit 88, and IOI City Mall) carrying the most variety.
