Uniqlo takes minority stake in Lemaire
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing has taken a minority stake in the Lemaire fashion brand.
In addition, the company has deepened its partnership with designer Christophe Lemaire as artistic director of the Uniqlo Paris R&D Centre by extending it for an extra five years.
Tadashi Yanai, chairman, president and chief executive of Fast Retailing, said: “Our appointment of Christophe Lemaire two years ago was timed to coincide with the opening of our new R&D Centre in Paris and the launch of Uniqlo U. I am pleased to deepen our partnership with Mr Lemaire even more, and I hope that our new level of involvement will help to facilitate further growth and development of the brand Lemaire.”
In addition to the Paris R&D Centre, Uniqlo also has research and development offices in Tokyo, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles. As well as functioning as product design centres, the offices gather information on local fashion trends, lifestyles and new materials.
Speaking about the extension of the partnership, Lemaire co-founder Sarah-Linh Tran said: “This partnership is a coherent and natural evolution of Fast Retailing’s relationship with the brand Lemaire. We fully agreed with Fast Retailing that we will pursue organic growth, and we are very much looking forward to develop the brand with their support and confidence.”
