UNIQLO Launch Event: West Coast Flagship Store in San Francisco.
Photos by Brawlio Elias.

In 1991, the first UNIQLO store opened in Tokyo’s hyperstylish Harajuku District. Fast forward 1,132 UNIQLO stores later, the first UNIQLO West Coast store finally opened in San Francisco on October 5, 2012. ASTONISH and San Francisco welcomed the Japanese clothing retailer with open arms, starting with a special launch event with the press and special guests on October 4. Celebrating the event were Founder/CEO of Fast Retailing/UNIQLO Tadashi Yanai, COO of UNIQLO USA Yasunobu Kyogoku, San Francisco 49er quarterback/legend Joe Montana, Oakland-born singer/songwriter Goapele, San Francisco celebrity chef Danny Bowien, Founder of Brit & Co Brit Morin, bloggers Anh of 9to5Chic and Annabel Ly of Blushing Ambitions, and many more.

After a night of celebration, the UNIQLO team prepared for the opening ceremony right after the last guest exited the party. San Francisco woke up the next morning with over 2,000 shoppers eagerly waiting in line for a chance to be the first to shop the flagship store. San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee expressed his excitement and gratitude for the latest addition to Union Square, which brought in over 500 jobs for the city, and the amazing deals that it offers for locals and tourists alike.

CEO & Founder of Fast Retailing/UNIQLO Tadashi Yanai with Joe Montana and Chief Operating Officer of UNIQLO USA Yasunobu Kyogoku

Opening of the sake barrels.

Here’s to celebrate the opening of the first UNIQLO flagship store in the West Coast.

Joe Montana, Goapele, and Britt Morin.

Special guests.

Blogger Anh of 9to5Chic and photographer Brawlio Elias.

Blogger Annabel Ly of Blushing Ambition.

Graphic Designer Van Kim Le.

Store display in Women’s Section.

Top level, Women’s Section.

More displays.

The ribbon cutting ceremony.

Mayor Lee declares October 5th “UNIQLO Day” for San Francisco.

The line of shoppers, which stretched for two and a half blocks.

UNIQLO Staff eagerly awaiting the first customers.

About UNIQLO and Fast Retailing:

UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co. (FR), a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under five brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, g.u., Princesse tam.tam, Theory, Helmut Lang and UNIQLO. With global sales of 820 billion yen for the 2011 fiscal year ending August 31, 2011, FR is the world’s fourth largest apparel retail company and UNIQLO is Japan’s leading specialty retailer. Today UNIQLO has more than 1,100 stores in 13 markets worldwide, namely in Japan, the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Korea. UNIQLO continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world’s most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a truly global brand. UNIQLO operates an integrated business model under which it designs, manufactures, markets and sells high-quality, casual apparel in line with its ‘Made for All’ philosophy. With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, FR is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere