UNIQLO and Blue Note Records team for t-shirt collection

Blue Note Records and UNIQLO have teamed up once again for a new UT t-shirt collection featuring five new designs based on iconic Blue Note album covers that were selected by Blue Note President and GRAMMY-winning producer Don Was.

Brokered by Universal Music Group’s merchandising division, Bravado, via their team in Japan, the new UT collection is on sale today in UNIQLO stores worldwide and online at bluenote.lnk.to/uniqlo.

“We’re thrilled to team up with UNIQLO on this new UT collection that lets fans adorn themselves in the visionary designs of Reid Miles,” says Was. “In the 1950s and 60s Reid created an enduringly hip Blue Note aesthetic with album covers that were themselves works of art, and we hope new generations will discover his genius through UT.”

This is Blue Note’s fourth collaboration with UNIQLO and the second volume of the popular UT collection that was launched last year. UT asked Was to select 30 “Essential” Blue Note album covers from which the UT designers carefully selected the seven designs released in 2021 and the five additional designs featured in this new collection: Lee Morgan’s Cornbread and The Rumproller, Freddie Hubbard’s Hub-Tones, Andrew Hill’s Judgment, and Eric Dolphy’s Out To Lunch.

To celebrate the collaboration Blue Note has updated the official playlist BLUE NOTE MEETS UT, which was specially curated by Was for this collaboration.

Fashion brands Uniqlo and Skechers face investigation over claims of forced labour in China

Uniqlo and Skechers are among a group of fashion brands being investigated by French prosecutors over accusations that they have ignored China’s alleged abuse of Uighur muslims in the Xinjiang region.

It was confirmed on Friday that the investigation concerned Uniqlo France – owned by Fast Retailing – Inditex, which owns Zara and Bershka, SMCP, the owner of the French fashion labels Sandrop and Maje, and the footwear company Skechers.

The investigation is looking into accusations that the four brands had been concealing and profiting from crimes against humanity in China’s Xingjiang region by sourcing goods produced using the forced labour of Uighur muslims.

According to the investigative website, Mediapart, the investigation follows a complaint filed in early April by campaigners including the anti-corruption group Sherpa, the Uighur Institute of Europe, and a Uighur who was interned in Xinjiang.

Inditex has issued a statement rejecting the claims of the legal complaint and said it would cooperate fully with the investigation. 

“At Inditex, we have zero tolerance for all forms of forced labour and have established policies and procedures to ensure this practice does not take place in our supply chain,” it said.

SMCP also said it would cooperate with French authorities, but would prove the allegations to be false, stating that it “works with suppliers located all over the world and… does not have direct suppliers in the region mentioned in the press.”

Charged Retail writes that major fashion labels like Nike, H&M, and Burberry have been subjected to boycotts in China after denouncing the use of cotton from the controversial region of Xinjiang which makes up around 80 per cent of the country’s cotton output.

The issue of China’s treatment of Xinjiang’s mainly Muslim, Turkic-speaking minority, making up just under half of the western region’s 25 million inhabitants, has become a major source of diplomatic conflric between Beijing and the west, writes The Guardian.

While China denies all allegations of abuse in the region, UN experts and rights groups estimate that over a million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in a system of camps in Xinjiang.

China has stated that these camps are ‘vocational training centres’ aimed at combating extremism, while rights groups say they have been used as a source of low-paid forced labour.

The Tokyo-based Fst Retailing has said it had not yet been contacted by French authorities but would cooperate fully to “reaffirm there is no forced labour in our supply chains,” while Skechers told Reuters it did not comment on pending litigation.

Uniqlo has not yet released a statement regarding the impending investigation.

MGA Entertainment partners with Uniqlo for exclusive LOL Surprise fashion line

MGA Entertainment has partnered with the fashion label Uniqlo for a nw LOL Surprise by Uniqlo fashion capsule, to launch across stores this April.

The new product assortment will include LOL Surprise t-shirts for young fashionistas. There will be familiar LOL Surprise brand attributes incorporated into the styles and messages that empower fans to be themselves.

As part of the launch, a new stop motion video will be released showcasing two of the new styles. The video features signature LOL Surprise dolls, Diva and Queen Bee, who embark on a fashion journey that ends in an epic runway show. The video will be featured in Uniqlo’s retail stores and digital/social, as well as shared with LOL Surprise fans around the world on the brands’ social channels.

Having debuted in December 2016, LOL Surprise has become a worldwide phenomenon and was named once again the Toy of the Year at this year’s TOTY Awards ahead of New York Toy Fair.