In scenes usually reserved New York’s Supreme shopfront, or an online frenzy for Chinatown Market’s latest drop, a Uniqlo outlet at Putrajaya’s IOI shopping mall was the scene of a throng of consumers trying to get first dibs on a collaboration with KAWS.
Launched in June, the Putrajaya shop saw a restock last Friday, and the hypebeasts that walk among us were ready for it.
A video of the crowd has made its way onto social media, showing shoppers rushing into the shop, pushing through a closed gate, to grab what they could of available T-shirts and tote bags. As they descend upon the stock, video shows cottons flying through the air as shoppers look for their size and style.
An unidentified man can be seen climbing onto a display rack, pulling out garments and throwing them onto the crowd.
Uploader Sammicci also showed what was left of the shop once all the tees and totes were gone: Hangers strewn across the floor, along with bits of point-of-sale displays and general trash.
According to Sammicci, items were gone in less than two minutes.
A voice on the clip can be heard crying over lack of manners, and netizens couldn’t help but agree, calling the scene shocking, and some wondering why Uniqlo’s management of the scene had been so terrible.
Of course, there were those that were certain that most of the goods would end up going back online, lining the pockets of resellers at a hefty profit.
And for those of you out there wondering just who the KAWS feller is, sit down uncle – we explain: KAWS is an American artist who does mostly sculptured work of subverting familiar pop culture characters like Mickey Mouse, the Michelin Man, the Smurfs, SpongeBob, and Snoopy.
Here are some references of his sculpture work:
And here are some of his previous Uniqlo collaborations:
While Miami artists Friends With You have a similar aesthetic and fan base (paging, Pharrell Williams), KAWS differs in that his commercial images often seem monolithically imposing, recreated using a grey scale, as opposed to color, and often with X’s in place of eyes. His Mickey Mouse-like figure is often depicted with hands covering its face, while other figures can be seen slumped over, or lying down.
And that concludes today’s snippet of youth culture. Tune back in tomorrow when we explain Rosalia.
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