UNIQLO, together with Toray Industries, Inc., hosted a special event in New York.
The Art and Science of LifeWear was a large-scale global exposition to mark the upcoming 15-year anniversary of UNIQLO’s pioneering relationship with its fabric technology partner, Toray, in the co-development of highly innovative clothing that perfectly harmonizes style and technology, commencing with HeatTech in 2003.
The Art and Science of LifeWear showcased how their unconventional but highly complementary partnership has underpinned the advancement of UNIQLO LifeWear to become the world’s most responsive, relevant apparel for the human experience today. Experimental and revelatory in nature, the event was the first time that the two companies came together outside of Japan to publicly spotlight the inner workings of fabric technologies they co-develop to make the world a better place for millions of people globally – cooler, warmer, more comfortable.
Commenting on the event, Tadashi Yanai, President & CEO of UNIQLO parent company, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., says, “Toray’s revolutionary technologies have been vital in UNIQLO’s quest to create LifeWear clothing, which makes everyday life better and more comfortable for people everywhere.”
Akihiro Nikkaku, President of Toray, says, “Our corporate philosophy is about contributing to society through the creation of new value with innovative ideas, technologies and products. As an integrated chemical company, we engage in research and development from long-term perspectives in the conviction that materials can change our lives.”
A series of large-scale installations and live experiential displayed at the expo enriched attendee understanding of proprietary UNIQLO technologies, allowing visitors to become fully immersed in the fascinating science behind AIRism, Kando-pants and Dry-EX. Exhibits included a deconstruction of the HeatTech technology to bring visitors down to a molecular-level perspective of the fabric and its special heat-retention properties, and a special experiment to discover the absolute minimum volume to which UNIQLO’s Ultra Light Down can be compressed.
Visitors to the Art and Science of LifeWear could also preview other advanced Toray technologies from the world’s most innovative fields – aircraft, racecars, rockets – with opportunities for a sneak peak into the future of clothing and how these might be expressed through HeatTech.