How Uniqlo is Co-opting Iconic NYC Art
On 5th Avenue, where the air is thick with the scent of designer perfumes and ambition, modern consumerism and NYC kitsch marketing are thriving as always. But Uniqlo may have just lowered the bar.
The Japanese retail giant, known for its minimalist fashion and maximalist marketing, is portraying itself as a destination for lovers of iconic NYC art by the likes of Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and KAWS.
“NY POP ART, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring” screamed a 20-foot-tall sign on the glass front of Uniqlo’s U.S. flagship store on 5th Ave at 53rd St. Of course, the sign also included the obligatory Brillo box, golden crown and radiant baby. That travesty was replaced recently with an even bigger one featuring a Warhol fright wig portrait and a KAWS Companion holding a t-shirt with the same character holding the banana logo Warhol designed for the first Velvet Underground record.
This gratuitous display of banal marketing audacity is aimed at selling $25 t-shirts. And the store IS LOCATED JUST ONE BLOCK FROM MoMA WHERE REAL ART LIVES.
Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, once a commentary on consumerism, now ironically adorned the very fabric of it. Basquiat's raw, untamed expressions of identity and struggle are now neatly pressed and folded on display tables. Keith Haring's vibrant, dancing figures, originally a symbol of unity and social activism, are now reduced to mere fashion statements. And KAWS’ playful yet poignant characters are keeping company with price tags and checkout counters.
At least the designs are legit, thanks to a licensing agreement between Uniqlo and MoMA. And the Warhol-KAWS t-shirt is promoting the global run of KAWS + Warhol, which opened in May at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
Uniquo is a global purveyor of t-shirts and other apparel with 2,434 stores worldwide and sales of more $16 billion. It has partnered with MoMA, Tate Modern, the Louvre and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, to support programs like free Friday nights at MOMA and to create, you guessed it, t-shirts featuring work by van Gogh, Monet, Modrian and others.
