Today, Japanese retailer Uniqlo celebrates the U.S. launch of its in-store and online SPRZ NY EAMES collection, created in collaboration with the Eames Office, Modern Museum of Art (MoMA), and SPRZ NY, the retailer’s design project focusing on the intersection of art and clothing. People who aren’t familiar with Charles and Ray Eames have likely seen their design—whether in a textile, building, or replica of their coveted furniture. The co-founders of the Eames Office are rightfully among the most eminent American designers of the 20th century and have an impressively diverse archive of work that spans architecture, photography, and product design.
Courtesy Eames Office
The retailer’s latest collection offers men’s graphic T-shirts, women’s stoles, blankets, and house slippers in Eames-inspired prints. Three midcentury modern patterns designed by the duo—circles, crosspatch, and Eames dot—also appear throughout the collection. The T-shirts, for example, sport iconic Eames chairs such as the Wire Chair (1951), the Plastic Side Chair (1954), the DCW (1946), and the Fiberglass Armchairs (1950). One T-shirt offering illustrates a deconstructed Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, meticulously labeling the product’s technical information—perhaps a nod to the husband-and-wife team’s use of innovative materials and unwavering emphasis on quality.
Courtesy Eames Office
The SPRZ NY EAMES collection ranges from $14.90 to $19.90 and are available for purchase on the Uniqlo website, in select stores around New York and Chicago, and at the MoMA Design Store, in New York. The collection was launched in Japan on Sept. 25.
Courtesy Eames Office
Courtesy Eames Office
Uniqlo and MoMA have been partners since 2013, when the retailer signed on to be a multiyear corporate sponsor for the art institution (Uniqlo supports free public access to the museum every Friday night, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.).