From haute couture to the high street
The London Standard|December 05, 2024
Clare Waight Keller on taking the reins at Uniqlo
JOE BROMLEY
From haute couture to the high street

Rumours blazed like wild fires through the fashion industry all summer long, as a musical chair switch-up of designers at leading houses left the most influential jobs up for grabs: who would decide the future of Valentino, Givenchy, Chanel? Certainly Clare Waight Keller, one of Britain’s foremost designers — the former head of Pringle of Scotland, Chloé and Givenchy, where she designed Meghan Markle’s wedding dress — was a front runner.

But insiders were left aghast at the beginning of September, when news broke that Waight Keller was cheating on luxury and taking on a new role overseeing all men’s and women’s wear at Japanese high street behemoth Uniqlo. It consolidates part of a bigger industry shift towards the more affordable, with Sienna Miller and Kate Moss designing party collections for M&S and Zara respectively, and Zac Posen taking the reins as creative director of Gap.

Waight Keller’s task? To bring the feminine edge and a Western touch to the brand once best known for its heat-tech thermals. “Their women’s wear was always something that had quite a unisex feel to it. I think there was a lack of femininity that they felt could open up a new consumer for them,” she says, speaking from Cornwall, where she is recovering from her jet lag after a trip to Uniqlo’s headquarters in Tokyo.

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