OREANDA-NEWS. UNIQLO announces that it will launch quality silk and cashmere items through retail and online stores in 14 markets around the world including Japan. UNIQLO's new lineup will make silk and cashmere apparel affordable and wearable every day. With a touch of class. Women's items will be available in 18 different styles and approximately 90 colors and patterns, priced from just 1,990 yen in Japan. UNIQLO is also offering cashmere items for men and women in 42 styles and approximately 330 colors and patterns, priced from just 1,500 yen in Japan.

Until now UNIQLO's silk apparel has been available only from its global flagship stores and large retail locations because top grades of the material are so scarce. In Japan, the company had to limit sales of cashmere items in 2010 to select stores because of supply issues. Today UNIQLO has new partnerships with world-class silk and cashmere producers to maintain steady supplies.

The visual director for the silk and cashmere marketing campaign is Olivier Zahm, editor of France's Purple Fashion magazine. He is presenting new UNIQLO perspectives by capturing the elegance that silk and cashmere can add to daily life. He selected flowers as the main aesthetic motif for the silk line to symbolize feminine beauty. For the cashmere line, chairs serve as the core visual element to convey the sensual feeling of the material.

British fashion model Lily Donaldson is promoting the silk collection, while American actress Chloe Sevigny is modeling the women's cashmere range. World-renowned photographer Ryan McGinley is overseeing visuals as the photographer of the campaigns as well as modeling for the men's cashmere collection.