Uniqlo Taps On Artist Daniel Arsham For A Unique Pokémon UT Collection

The year is 3020. Humans may, or may not, have survived — but these little critters have, in the form of fossilised relics not unlike the ones we have of dinosaur skeletons. If that’s not a unique proposition for a Pokémon collaboration, we don’t know what is. It also happens to be artist Daniel Arsham’s surprising take on an upcoming Uniqlo UT collection that’s launching 24 April.

First of all, that’s a name that should be on your radar. The New York-based creative has some serious cultural cred under his belt, especially after his partnership with Kim Jones at Dior, where he imagines the fashion house’s heritage in “Future Relics”, where sculptures of ordinary (though, Dior-emblazoned) objects are presented partially eroded, looking like they’re freshly excavated. He terms this concept “Future Archaeology”, and it’s a mind-twisting one alright.

Similarly, the Pokémon-inspired project is called “Relics of Kanto Through Time”. Here, he imagines how the well-loved pocket monsters from Nintendo’s hit game look 1,000 years from today, and will be presenting this as sculptures and in the form of graphics on the fashion retailer’s UT collection of wearable t-shirts.

Men’s UT, $19.90 each
Men’s UT, $19.90 each

“With many of my projects, I try to make work that’s not just for art people and I think UNIQLO has a similar egalitarian culture,” says Arsham. “The reason I feature iconic characters in my work is that they are very recognisable and on the surface, they make it easy to enter my work. Pokémon has been a monumental presence ever since I was a child and I’m excited about the opportunity to present my work to a much wider audience.”

Women’s UT, $19.90 each

We, on the other hand, can declare our love for Pokémon by simply getting a t-shirt. There are a total of seven designs for men, women and kids, which feature monotone sketches of Pikachu, Mewtwo and Jigglypuff, a little worn down but still battle-ready. You can even spot an ancient crystallised Pokédex, that apparently still works that far into the future. The hardest part then, comes down to picking your favourite starter.

UPDATE: Due to newly developed circumstances amidst the nation-wide COVID-19 circuit breaker measures, kindly note that UNIQLO Singapore has postponed the online launch of the Daniel Arsham x Pokémon UT Collection originally slated for April 24, 2020.

 


The Uniqlo and Daniel Arsham x Pokémon UT Collection, $19.90 for the Men’s and Women’s T-shirts, $14.90 for the Kids’ T-shirts. More here: Uniqlo.