UNIQLO is set to drop their new Star Wars capsule collection on Monday, giving us all plenty of time to snag a spring-ready t-shirt for the opening of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. The collection will be limited to shirts and will act as the first installment of UNIQLO’s Master of Graphics project, so if you were hoping for a full-on Rogue-pilot inspired orange jumpsuit with fleece lining (because this is UNIQLO after all, and they love fleece) you’re sadly going to have to wait.
The Japan-based casual wear brand has become well known for its limited run t-shirt collaborations, releasing hundreds per year and pulling in big name brands, designers, and artists, such as Alexandre Plokhov, KAWS, and Nintendo. UNIQLO UT’s (the brand’s t-shirt division) current creative director, Japanese designer NIGO, has called in the talents of his friends Jun Takahashi of UNDERCOVER fame, and Tetsu Nishiyama of WTAPS, to reinterpret famous imagery from the Star Wars franchise.
Highlights of the collection include graphics of the Star Wars Japanese title card, and Jun Takahashi’s cartoonish reworkings of C-3PO and R2D2. The Ewok shirt on the other hand — straight up frightening. We wish the back of the shirt — just the word “EWOKS” in all caps — was the front of the shirt and we never had to see those frightening little murder-bear faces! Seriously, Ewoks are so scary George Lucas had to add eyelids to them digitally for the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi, the best and only worthy change the director has ever made to his original films.
Anyway, back to the shirts. NIGO’s designs feature a movie-still image of Greedo, and a cartoonish rendering of Yoda from behind, that pays homage to Empire Strikes Back, with both shirts featuring famous quotes from the characters. Tetsu Nishiyama seems to have been swept up in the Mandalorian hype, designing a Mandalorian recruitment poster that is very Shepard Fairey meets Boba Fett, as well as a more subdued t-shirt featuring a Dewback — ironically one of the most excessive and unnecessary additions Lucas made to the Special Edition of Star Wars.
The collection is scheduled to release via a special webpage on April 29th. Check out the full collection below!
