Different countries have different aesthetics – French chic, Brit eclectic formality or pretty-pretty, and American sportswear. The Japanese look is typically minimalist, perhaps with a touch of the avant-garde – an extra sleeve for that tricky third arm you’ve been hiding – or a little bit of kitsch. And we absolutely love it. My family and I moved to Vancouver from Asia and it was a fashion wrench because of the loss of two specific stores: Muji and Uniqlo. Now, there’s confirmation that Muji is coming our way. Its pop-up at the Fairmont Pacific Rim ran from Jan. 27 to Feb. 28, and will be followed by two permanent stores – one in Metrotown (opening Aug. 26) and one on Robson later this year.
Meanwhile, it was just announced that Uniqlo, which made its Canadian debut last fall in Toronto, will open its first Western Canada location – and only its third in the country thus far – at Metropolis at Metrotown, on a to-be-determined date in fall of this year. Here’s a breakdown of what both brands are about.
Muji
The stores of this 37-year-old brand are the most peaceful and orderly place on earth: Products have no logos or excess, there’s a soft, folksy soundtrack and lots of neutral colours. The brand makes everything from furniture to fashion; beauty products to bedding. Stationery is a big favourite, as are the simple and elegant wooden kids’ toys. Fashion-wise, it makes great tunics, shirts, jeans, knitwear and simple sneakers. The flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo, even has an in-store optical shop where you can get prescription spectacles within the hour. While it doesn’t reveal its roster of collaborators, it’s known that they include Naoto Fukasawa, who created Muji’s iconic wall-mounted CD player, and Thonet, Germany’s oldest furniture company.
The Vancouver pop-up will have a carefully curated selection of lifestyle items, including ultrasonic aroma diffusers and essential oils, Fukasawa’s CD player, and stationery. It will be a part of Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Japan Unlayered exhibition, which celebrates Japanese design, food and culture. FYI, it’s anticipated that the pop-up will be so popular that advance reservations will be required. Visit Eventbrite to sign up.
Note: There’s no confirmation regarding the opening dates of the two permanent locations, but Retail Insider reports (and our sources confirm) that the branch on the 1100 block of Robson will be the largest in Canada at 10,000 sq. ft., while the Metrotown store will be a still substantial 8,000 sq. ft.
Uniqlo
We could have done with a branch of this 67-year-old brand in Vancouver during the winter. It makes fantastic, affordable cold-weather gear such as down jackets and thermal undergarments. There are also edgy graphic T-shirts under its pop-culture line, UT, as well as great basics. But the headline-grabbers are the designer collaborations: Fashion icon Inès de la Fressange and designers Hana Tajima and Christophe Lemaire have created collections for Spring/Summer 2017, and previous partners include Carine Roitfeld, Opening Ceremony and Pharrell Williams. (There was also the amazing, sadly defunct +J line by Jil Sander, which formed many a fashion editor’s wardrobe for a few seasons.) The upcoming Metrotown outlet will boast more than 20,000 square feet of wares, which, a press release says, will include "the brand's full range of core items [for] men, women, kids and babies." Till then, it’s worth the price of a flight to Toronto to stock up.
