Whenever we visit friends and relatives abroad, their pasalubong requests are usually pretty easy to fulfill.
YES! Magazine? Sure! Happy Skin lippies? Okay! Max’s Caramel Bars? How many boxes? Dried mangoes and polvoron? Done and done!
But there’s one wish that has always stumped us: Jollibee shirts.
Not anymore. Japanese retail giant Uniqlo has partnered with the Filipino food chain and created a collection of Jollibee t-shirts to be released just in time for Uniqlo’s third anniversary in the country.
Katsumi Kubota, COO of Fast Retailing Philippines, said in an interview with Inquirer, “We started to talk to Jollibee middle of last year. Of course, we had to make it perfect because Jollibee is so loved by the Philippines and we can never disappoint the Filipino people. It’s a good collaboration for us because we are originally from Japan and Jollibee is originally from the Philippines. We’ve been in the Philippines for three years now so we want to make ourselves a little bit Filipino.”
In the course of working with Jollibee, Kubota discovered that the two brands have a lot in common. “We could find a strong similarity between Jollibee and Uniqlo. We both work on life essentials—food, clothing and shelter. They provide food, we provide clothing. “
The collection, which will include shirts for kids, women and men, will also be released in Uniqlo’s stores in other Southeast Asian countries.
Kubota’s favorite shirt? “The white t-shirt with the large Jollibee on the chest. When I wore that in the mall, the people were looking at me… but they weren’t looking at me, they were looking at the t-shirt.”
The Uniqlo X Jollibee collection will be available starting June 1, after Uniqlo’s anniversary sale which will be held from May 29 to May 31.
In the meantime, here’s a video of Jollibee dancing outside Uniqlo’s Mega Fashion Hall branch.