UNIQLO For the Win – New Apparel, Same Federer

Roger Federer/UNIQLO Global Brand Ambassador

When the eight-time Wimbledon champion and No. 1 seed Roger Federer walked out on Centre Court to christen the start of this year's Wimbledon Championship and begin his title defense on Monday afternoon, he wore a new brand, Tokyo-based UNIQLO - not Nike, his long-time apparel partner. The decades-long Federer-Nike era was over. It was a stunning sight to the start of this year's fortnight.

The 36-year-old Federer's nearly all-white attire – collarless shirt with a two-button front and a red pinstripe accent, shorts, bandana-style headband, socks and warm-up jacket – had the minimal and slim-cut red and white UNIQLO logo. His white shoes, which are custom made, were still Nike and bore the familiar swoosh logo. Federer's new UNIQLO kit bore the design of the Japanese brand's artistic director Christophe Lemaire.

Within minutes after the 20-time Grand Slam winner took Centre Court for his first-round match against 57th-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, UNIQLO UK tweeted:

"UNIQLO is honoured to welcome Roger Federer as our new Global Brand Ambassador!"

In a statement released by UNIQLO, Tadashi Yanai, UNIQLO's founder and chairman, said, "Mr. Federer is one of the greatest champions in history – my respect for him goes beyond sport.

"Our partnership will be about innovation on and off the court. We share a goal of making positive change in the world, and I hope together we can bring the highest quality of life to the greatest number of people. UNIQLO will help Mr. Federer continue taking tennis to new places while exploring innovations in a number of areas including technology and design with him."

Federer said, "I am deeply committed to tennis and to winning championships. But like UNIQLO, I also have great love for life, culture and humanity. We share a strong passion to have a positive impact on the world around us and look forward to combining our creative endeavors."

Soon after the announcement, Sports Illustrated executive editor and senior writer Jon Wertheim tweeted:

Roger Federer debuts his new Uniqlo kit
at Wimbledon on Monday.

"Uniqlo for the win. #Wimbledon"

Wertheim added, "As we see a global athlete wearing Uniqlo, a reminder: Tokyo will host the 2020 Olympics. $30 million per year, sources tell us. Do they get into performance footwear now?"

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, the deal "is worth more than $300 million guaranteed over 10 years and has an unprecedented clause that says that Federer will still collect the money even if he doesn't play." He can also sell patches on his shirt, which he couldn't do with Nike.

When you take a look at Federer's $300 million UNIQLO deal, consider this: his career on-court earnings over the past two decades are a mere $116.6 million.

Federer's deal with Nike expired on March 1. He continued to wear Nike without a deal during recent grass-court tournaments in Stuttgart and Halle, Germany, last month. He appeared for his Wimbledon pre-tournament press conference on Sunday wearing an open-collar dress shirt and sports jacket. By all appearances, Federer looked like he was dressed up for a dinner out the Wimbledon village with his family and team instead of coming in from the practice courts.

Christopher Clarey, tennis columnist for The New York Times, said in a tweet that "Federer's Nike deal is done but have been told by industry sources that the RF logo will revert to Federer at some stage in the next few years. Am told they do not own the rights to it in perpetuity so it may well rise again."

As it happened, Federer beat Lajovic in the opening round, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4, in a tidy 1 hour and 19 minutes, then returned on Wednesday afternoon to Centre Court and beat 94th-ranked Lukas Lacko of Slovakia in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. He is undefeated wearing UNIQLO and has now won 26 consecutive sets at Wimbledon. Although it might take a few matches to get used to seeing Federer in UNIQLO instead of Nike, I think the change is a good one for the Swiss maestro. He's playing inspired, efficient tennis and – still – is the player to beat at Wimbledon this year.

"We're going to have to get adjusted to not seeing the Nike swoosh," said Hall of Famer Jim Courier, who analyzed Federer's opening-day match for Tennis Channel. "It's like Superman without the 'S'. We'll see if it has any impact on him. I doubt it."

While Federer's fashion choices will be debated by the media and his legion of worldwide fans, one thing's certain: the new UNIQLO grand brand ambassador still looks fabulous in white. His new adornments highlight his graceful movement and masterful strokes – and, as Federer has shown so far, he still knows how to play superb tennis.

Photos: Courtesy of Uniqlo Twitter feed and Google images.

Clothes with value that suit your values, too

Elements of Style: Uniqlo /
Making clothes that transcend all categories and social groups.

Uniqlo is the elements of style.

Uniqlo is a toolbox for living.

Uniqlo is clothes that suit your values.

Uniqlo is how the future dresses.

Uniqlo is beauty in hyperpracticality.

Uniqlo is clothing in the absolute.

Uniqlo is made for all.

Can clothing change the world? Uniqlo, the Japanese brand that has been taking San Francisco by storm, not only believes it can. It already is doing it. 

Uniqlo's brand philosophy is simple: It doesn't matter who you are or where you live. "Uniqlo makes clothes that transcend all categories and social groups," says the global clothing retailer on its website. "Our clothes are made for all, going beyond age, gender, occupation, ethnicity, and all other ways that define people. Our clothes are simple and essential yet universal, so people can freely combine them in their own unique way."

Novak Djokovic /
Serbian world-class tennis player,
who has partnered with Uniqlo.

In May, Uniqlo made a big splash in the sporting world when it signed Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men's tennis player in the world, to a five-year apparel contract. Djokovic debuted his new Uniqlo red, white and blue kit at the French Open in Paris. On Monday, when he won the ATP World Tour championship in London, Djokovic sported a brand new black kit that made its debut during the tournament. During his post-match news conference, he wore a jazzy, red ultra-light down vest jacket.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I experienced Uniqlo for the first time when I visited the brand's newly-opened West Coast flagship Uniqlo Store located just off Union Square in downtown San Francisco. Upon entering the 29,000 square-foot, three-story clothing emporium (located at 111 Powell Street in the former DSW store), the colorfully-lit and vibrant atmosphere made an immediate impact upon me. So did the 91 rotating mannequins showing off Uniqlo's latest apparel, such as ultra-light down jackets in a variety of colors, as well as the 77 LCD screens that lined the perimeter of the store and seven large-screen wall monitors showing off the company's marketing campaigns.

"When people first walk in, we want to shock them with the colors and the variety," Yasunobu Kyogoku, Uniqlo's chief operating officer for the United States, told the San Francisco Business Times on the eve of the San Francisco Uniqlo's October 5 grand opening.

Uniqlo's brand logo.

Uniqlo likes to think big and the company is driven by innovation. In just 10 years, half of Japan's population is relying on Uniqlo's Heattech technology to make dressing in winter "as fun and flexible as in any other season." In fact, 80 percent of the population of Japan live within 20 minutes of a Uniqlo store, the first which opened in 1984 in Hiroshima. There are 847 Uniqlo locations in Japan alone. I appreciate that Uniqlo has an eye toward social responsibility, too, by recycling millions of pieces of clothing for the needy, supporting small businesses through microcredit and working to restore Japan's Seto Inland Sea. They're a business with a soul.

Worldwide, Uniqlo has 1,132 stores in 13 markets, including: Tokyo, Bangkok, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Moscow, Paris, London and New York City. Here in San Francisco, Uniqlo's high-quality, affordable fashion merchandise will compete with nearby H & M and Gap for the young, hipster urbanite retail dollar in the upcoming holiday shopping season.

I had a blast visiting Uniqlo, and the store's modern and hip design, filled with bright lights, technological gadgetry and pulsating music, gave off a cool vibe that reminded me of being inside a discotheque. It definitely put me in a mood for shopping and, impulsively, I bought a stylish but affordable ($19.90), zip-up navy blue fleece jacket that was on sale and can be worn in San Francisco's moderate climate almost year-round. Added up, the phenomenon that is Uniqlo, from the colorful displays to the courteous and eager customer service to the idea of a company that wants to make our lives better through clothing, made shopping fun, again.

Indeed, clothing can change the world.

Photograph inside San Francisco Uniqlo store by Michael Dickens, copyright 2012.
Photograph of Novak Djokovic courtesy of Getty Images and ATP World Tour Facebook page.