Uniqlo Debuts T-Shirt App

Fast Retailing Co.’s (Tokyo) Uniqlo chain is allowing customers to become budding fashion designers. Having recently brought in singer Pharrell Williams to design a line of T-shirts, Uniqlo decided to open the floor to its entire customer base. Today, the company introduced UT Me, which allows customers, using a smartphone or other touchscreen and a new Uniqlo app, to create unique graphics and text, which are printed onto a T-shirt in the size the customer chooses.

The shirts are delivered to customers’ homes, though they can also pick them up at the Uniqlo store in the Ginza district of Tokyo, which has been equipped with a t-shirt printer to demonstrate the service until August.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Uniqlo “sees UT Me as a way to stay ahead in the fiercely competitive Japanese retail sector, where shop windows are sometimes changed hourly and customization is king.” While customized t-shirts are nothing new, the mobile app gives customers ease of use and more creative options. The shirts retail for 1990 yen, or about $19.60 USD. The company says it might choose some customer-designed shirts for mass production.