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LONDON – Global fashion giant UNIQLO is launching ocean-themed embroidery designs across its RE.UNIQLO Studios to spotlight the ocean through fashion. The ten ocean-influenced designs can be embroidered on to UNIQLO clothing to personalize or extend the life of a garment. Created by Redress Design Award alumna Pei-Wen Jin, they will be introduced across 18 RE.UNIQLO Studios in Europe starting this August, and Asia later this fall. 
The designs draw inspiration from Pei-Wen’s participation as an Artist-at-Sea during an ocean science expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too). Pei-Wen’s participation was through Ocean Rising, an initiative between Schmidt Ocean Institute and Nekton, which connects culture and the ocean.
“Schmidt Ocean Institute welcomes artists onboard Falkor (too), giving them an opportunity to participate in a real ocean science expedition and share their experiences with the broader public. Their work transforms and strengthens our cultural connections with the ocean,” said Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Executive Director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute. “We established Ocean Rising with our partner, Nekton, as an alliance to create a bridge between popular culture and the ocean. Pei-Wen’s inspiration for her designs and resulting partnership under the RE.UNIQLO concept is an example of how the ocean can expand our imagination and inspire creativity.”
Selected from a shortlist of 24 alumni of the Redress Design Award, Taiwanese fashion designer Pei-Wen Jin joined a six-day scientific expedition in August 2023 focused on the pressing issue of microplastics. She was working alongside other artists and marine scientists. Her maritime journey sparked great inspiration from the ocean’s textures and formations and began to develop her ideas for this partnership with UNIQLO.
Pei-Wen utilized her expertise in modular geometric design to create a set of tangram-like puzzle patterns inspired by ocean waves. These patterns divide a rectangle into four oceanic modules, which can be assembled in countless ways to form diverse oceanic contours and marine life, celebrating the rich beauty of ocean shapes.
“This unique experience deeply moved me. I felt the ocean’s profound inclusivity, continuously and elastically reshaping itself to align with the world’s contours, embracing us with intricate gestures, and making us feel both free and expansive.” said Pei-Wen Jin. “In my heart, the ocean’s forms embody the essence of diversity and inclusion, representing a beautiful energy that nurtures all possibilities. The ocean is our home, a place where we find boundless potential and true belonging.”
Using second-hand UNIQLO clothing as her medium, Pei-Wen also created large-scale textile artwork. This piece embodies Pei-Wen’s vision of oceanic shapes. It can be admired from afar, with hidden marine creatures waiting to be discovered, or worn directly, symbolizing immersion in the ocean and integrating bodily movements into the shapes of the sea. This piece was exhibited at an Ocean Rising Fashion Show at Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica in May 2024 and will be on display in UNIQLO’s flagship store in Regent Street London throughout August and September 2024.
“UNIQLO are proud to be working with Pei-Wen, an inspiring young designer, who has illustrated the Ocean Rising Project, to mark the one-year milestone since she went on the Pacific expedition.” said Maria Samoto le Dous, Head of Sustainability for UNIQLO Europe. “UNIQLO are thrilled to be launching these new ocean-inspired designs in our RE.UNIQLO Studio, we hope that our customers can feel connected to the ocean through these unique and meaningful designs.”
The RE.UNIQLO Studios offer their customers the opportunity to enjoy wearing UNIQLO clothes for longer through repair, refresh or remake. Customers across the 18 RE.UNIQLO Studios in Europe can now personalize or repair UNIQLO garments with Pei-Wen’s ocean designs through the embroidery service to extend their longevity.
“Fashion has an incredible opportunity to inspire people, many of whom look to fashion brands to not only dress them but also to exert a positive influence in the world around us,” said Dr. Christina Dean, Founder of Redress. “It’s highly impactful and encouraging to see a global powerhouse like UNIQLO collaborating with emerging designers like Pei-Wen to showcase creativity and circular design techniques in real-life products. This project allows more consumers to discover and participate in sustainable fashion, in a fun and accessible way.”
About the Organizations
Schmidt Ocean Institute was established in 2009 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to catalyze the discoveries needed to understand our ocean, sustain life, and ensure the health of our planet through the pursuit of impactful scientific research and intelligent observation, technological advancement, open sharing of information, and public engagement, all at the highest levels of international excellence. For more information, visit www.schmidtocean.org.
Ocean Rising is an alliance that unites ocean science, conservation, expeditions and storytelling with arts, fashion, sport, music and other cultural areas. It partners with experts in different cultural sectors on events that highlight the ocean in creative and innovative ways. Established by Schmidt Ocean Institute and Nekton, it aims to integrate the ocean seamlessly into the fabric of everyday life – igniting curiosity for our undersea world and cultivating a global community dedicated to the celebration and protection of our ocean. Ocean Rising works with collaborators from all cultural spheres who lead and inspire Ocean awareness raising interventions in their area of expertise. Each activity increases Ocean awareness in that cultural sector and seeds more interventions. By working together, ripples of Ocean awareness turn into waves. For more information, visit www.oceanrising.org.
Redress Design Award is the world’s leading sustainable fashion design competition, educating emerging fashion designers around the world about sustainable design theories and techniques in order to drive growth towards a circular fashion system. By putting sustainable design talent in the global spotlight, the Redress Design Award creates a unique platform for passionate and talented fashion game-changers to transform the global fashion industry and rewards the best with career-changing prizes to maximize long-term impact.
The programme is organized by Redress, a Hong Kong-headquartered, Asia-focused environmental NGO with a mission to accelerate the change to a circular fashion industry by educating and empowering designers and consumers, so as to reduce clothing’s negative environmental impact.with support from Lead Sponsor, the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Pei-Wen Jin is an Alumna of the Redress Design Award, part of a network of 300+ at the forefront of a new breed of fashion designers prioritizing sustainability and circularity as much as desirability.
