Uniqlo: Modern Japanese Fashion Hits America

A new wave of fashion is coming from the land of the rising sun, with a strange name to boot. Uniqlo (pronounced "you-neek-low") is a new clothing retailer slowly expanding across the globe. Currently featuring three stores in the US (their flagship store being in Soho, NYC) and only a handful of others located around Southeast Asia and Britain, they can be extremely hard to come by. However once you find one, you'll discover why it's certainly worth the trip.

The store itself has a very sleek look, with wood floors, completely white walls and shelves, and several mannequins lined up, sporting whatever's in season.. The only color (and the most notable feature of the store) can be found within the clothes themselves, very neatly folded and stacked up high along the shelves, reaching the ceiling. The color of the clothes is what certainly makes this store quite unique. Uniqlo also features a very extensive soundtrack, mostly playing trance/dance/indie which will not only have you asking the cashier for the name of what's playing, but will make you want to shop!

Uniqlo's style comes from its simplicity. They feature clothes you'd see in any standard clothing retailer today (polos, button-downs, jeans, dresses, jackets, bags etc.), except their designs are very basic. In fact, in most cases their clothes are comprised of one solid, bright color. Some styles of clothes will have more than one color (track jackets, rugby shirts, any clothes you'd imagine having more than one color), but the simple, solid colors are what make this place great. It's perfect if you already have an outfit in mind, and you're simply looking for that certain color shit to complement the rest of it.

The overall prices are pretty reasonable. Most shirts range from 19.99 (t-shirts, polos, baseball tees) to 39.99 (light jackets, collared shirts, some sweaters). Some of the more expensive items include jeans (around 49.99 a pair) and the wall of cashmere sweaters which weight in at a hefty 99.99. However if you're like me and love a good bargain, their sale rack can be quite extensive with most items ranging around 25-30 percent off.

While their locations are spread far and wide (but slowly growing), Uniqlo has a certain style that anyone who appreciates good fashion would like. Save up your pennies and take a trip to New York or Singapore or Japan, and see what the commotion is all about!