UNIQLO Report: Alice Roi & Satoru Tanaka Arrive ...Plus Flip-Flops

And here is our final UNIQLO post of the week. Yes, we write about them a lot, and it's beginning to disturb us too. We are beginning to fee like UNIQLO stalkers, but we can't help it. Every time we walk in there we see a new t-shirt that we absolutely must have, and it's a lot cheaper than stalking Bergdorf's.
Anyway, Today we finally saw part 2 of their Designers Invitation Project featuring New York's Alice Roi for women and Japan's Satoru Tanaka for men. There was not quite a mob scene when we visited this morning, but that might be because it was pouring rain at that very moment. We expect the weekend crowds to have a field day. What we saw of Roi's collection looked good, and reflected her signature nerd/punk aesthetic well. The quality looked very good. The cotton Trapeze shaped tunic (pictured at right, center figure) included three different cotton fabrics with meticulously finished details. At $39.95, it could easily retail for several times that amount at Barneys. Most items came in multiple colors, and the retro chemise dress pictured came in black, white, and the multicolored neon print. This won't make Roi a household name in the U.S., though it should raise her profile in New York a bit. The real benefit for her is the exposure she will have in Japan and the Far East, where UNIQLO has around 750 stores. The collection is really geared towards that market rather than the U.S, which is evident in the sizing, in this case, XS to L.

The Satoru Tanaka men's group included great separates like linen jackets and vests with intricate seaming and beautifully made shirts including one featuring an optical mix of micro striped and checked cotton. We loved that shirt, and we would have bought it, except that this group is cut for a diminutive customer, and the largest size, a large, would roughly translate to a tight medium in typical American sizes. We settled for the smart, tapered pants in mini-herringbone textured cotton which were as beautifully finished inside as those that would sell for ten times their $39.95 price.
As usual, there were tons of T-shirts, though we saw no sign of the UT vending machine, (and we may not) there was a fresh shipment of designs, and our salesperson told us to expect more throughout the season. If that wasn't enough, nestled among the tees were some brand new flip flops in colorful designs which will no doubt be flopping all over the Hamptons this summer. So the scorecard goes,

Flip-flops - good
T-shirts - always good
Alice Roi - very good
Satoru Tanaka - but mostly for the tiny man!

We hear that Phillip Lim's collection (and hopefully Alexandre Plokhov's) will be arriving on May 22 (but we have no confirmation yet). Mark your calendars.

UNIQLO 546 Broadway, SoHo