Uniqlo’s CEO has told the BBC that the company does not use cotton from Xinjiang, China, in its products. This is the first time Tadashi Yanai, the head of Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing, has directly addressed the issue.
Xinjiang cotton had once been praised for its quality, but it’s now controversial because of reports that it’s produced using forced labor, particularly from the Uyghur Muslim minority.
In recent years, many global companies, like H&M and Nike, stopped using Xinjiang cotton after tough regulations from the U.S. came into effect.
This led to backlash in China, with some brands being boycotted. While Uniqlo stayed neutral on the issue in the past, Yanai has now confirmed they do not use cotton from Xinjiang.
He emphasized that the company wants to be transparent about the materials used in its clothes but did not elaborate further, citing the sensitive nature of the topic.
China remains a key market for Uniqlo, with the company having around 1,000 stores there, more than in Japan. Yanai believes there’s room for even more growth in China, with plans to expand to 3,000 stores.
However, Uniqlo also faces competition from fast-fashion brands like China’s Shein, which are growing rapidly due to their lower prices.
Despite these challenges, Yanai is focused on making clothes that last, saying there’s no future in fast fashion, which he believes wastes resources.
He wants Uniqlo to lead the fashion industry, aiming to surpass Zara’s parent company, Inditex, as the biggest fashion retailer in the world.
The company’s future could be impacted by political pressures in both China and the U.S., as well as higher tariffs on Chinese-made goods, especially if Donald Trump returns to office with plans to raise these tariffs.
This article was originally reported by the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79zqdl7j2go