Uniqlo·Jil Sander Collection 'Sold Out'... NO Japan Is a Thing of the Past

Uniqlo closed nine stores last August due to the impact of the boycott of Japanese products. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] Uniqlo stores, which had been struggling due to the ongoing boycott of Japanese products (NO Japan) since last year, were bustling because of the Jil Sander collection.

This year, Uniqlo released the '+J' collection, a collaboration product between designer Jil Sander and Uniqlo, as a limited edition in Korea on the 13th.

On that day, at the Uniqlo Myeongdong Central Store in Jung-gu, Seoul, a line over 100 meters long formed even before the store opened at 11:30 AM. As soon as the store doors opened, a crowd rushed inside, causing an 'open run' situation. Inside the building, lines for shopping and payment also stretched several tens of meters.

Uniqlo limited the purchase quantity to one item per product and a total of 10 items per person so that more customers could buy the +J collection, but major products sold out within 5 minutes of opening.

The +J collection was also very popular online. Sales started at 8 AM on the same day on the online homepage, and popular items in key sizes sold out immediately.

The representative product of the +J collection, the 'Women's Hybrid Down Short Coat,' sold out both online and offline at opening, except for some extra-large size XXL.

Due to the sell-out frenzy and crowding, the 'Uniqlo Jil Sander Collection' became a hot topic, ranking high in search terms on major portal sites. On online communities, purchase confirmations and reviews such as "I casually put it in my basket but ended up paying nearly 1 million won" were posted.

Some netizens, seeing this, mentioned the 'NO Japan' boycott, criticizing, "It's embarrassing, there are many domestic brands, so why buy that?" and "As Koreans, let's at least keep some pride." They also expressed concerns about COVID-19, saying, "Do we really have to line up in front of Uniqlo in this situation?"

Meanwhile, Uniqlo started selling the +J collection at three Seoul stores: Myeongdong Central Store, Lotte World Mall Store, and Sinsa Store, as well as three regional stores: Hyundai Department Store Pangyo, Shinsegae Daegu, and Samjeong Tower Busan.

At Jamsil Lotte World Store and Gangnam Uniqlo Sinsa Store, lines of at least 50 to as many as 100 people also formed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.