I have to say this – unlike my boss, Uniqlo is very clever.
They’re already a global brand, with their reasonably priced, well-made basics. It’s a very sustainable decision.
But they know how to cash in on the trends as well. There always a little section in the shop that sells graphic tees, and a lot of the themes come and go with the seasons.
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Oh, they know the rule alright: there’s a lot of money to be made from rabid fans, especially with items that help the fans further advertise said rabid-city.
I don’t know how many people I’ve seen wearing shirts from the Shounen Jump collection… Sometimes it happens when I’m wearing shirts from the Shounen Jump collection.
Pokemon Frenzy
It’s going to be more of the same for this next season because
- Pokemon was already huge, with 7 generations of games, mangas and animes
- Then Pokemon GO converted a new batch of
heathensfans who didn’t play the original stuff in their childhood. - Then, obviously, Detective Pikachu added even more
infidelsfollowers to the animal slavery cult.
Now everyone is lusting to catch ’em all.
The Shirts
All the designs are a result of the Uniqlo T-shirt Grand Prix (UTGP), a global T-shirt design competition. To enforce our point about how bloody big the fan base is, there were more than 18,000 submissions, a record for UTGP.
And here are the winning designs:
1st Place
By Nobody, Nowhere
Currently, there’s no winner because the winner was crowned then disqualified. So the grand prize winner spot will remain empty, it seems.
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More details below.
2nd Place
It’s a fun and creative one with Unowns hiding among the rows of a Landolt C vision test.
Who knew those annoying cave-dwellers had a role in optometry?
3rd Place
By Emily, USA
The designer wanted to something “summer” since the shirts were coming out in the middle of the year, and there’s nothing more “summer” than an electric mouse sitting between the legs of a powerful, long-necked grass Pokemon (alola variant).
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For a glimpse of some of the other designs:
For better pictures and all the designs, visit their online store where you can make your purchases already. If not, wait till 24th June for the stock to be released in physical stores.
Some of the designs come in men’s cut, some women’s and some children.
T-shirts for adults are $19.90 while those for kids are $14.90
The Disqualified Winner
Here was the 1st place entry by Li Wen Pei, China
With Margicarps and a Gyarados, it’s supposed to pay tribute to the evolution of a weak Pokemon to a strong one.
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Well, the designer believed in the message so much he had previously already used them as designs on phone cases, which he sold on Taobao.
As you can see, the design is exactly the same, and there was a shiny version too.
Explanation
When people spoke up, Li Wen Pei tried to explain himself on his Weibo account:
“Hello everyone. I sold a small number of smartphone cases with the same artwork (before I submitted it for Pokemon UTGP 2019). Unfortunately, there are pirates who have pirated my artwork. Therefore please do not share the pirated goods.”
…Which didn’t help his case at all?
With the official contest rules for UTGP 2019 stating that to qualify, all submitted designs must have “never been published before”, Uniqlo had to disqualify him.
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To add insult to injury, his design was supposed to be featured on in-game apparel in the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield.
It will no longer be. The fall from grace must be hurting one hell of a ton right now…
But it’s okay. We can still buy the other designs.
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