Uniqlo x Inès de La Fressange

The UNIQLO × Ines de la Fressange collection is a globally launched womenswear line that blends Parisian elegance with UNIQLO’s LifeWear philosophy, offering timeless wardrobe essentials rooted in everyday luxury and effortless French style.

I contributed to the design team across three consecutive seasons beginning with the Spring/Summer 2023 collection. My responsibilities included developing seasonal themes, conducting visual and cultural research, building mood maps, and proposing ready-to-wear designs aligned with the brand DNA.

The UNIQLO x Inès de La Fressange 2023 Spring/Summer collection celebrates effortless French chic through the lens of UNIQLO’s LifeWear philosophy, drawing inspiration from the vibrant colors, patterns, and textures of India — a country Inès has long admired. Featuring airy linens, soft cottons, and lively prints in shades of sky blue, pink, and red, the collection blends Parisian elegance with a sense of relaxed, sunlit travel. From belted shirt dresses and lightweight coverall jackets to gathered skirts and tunic blouses, each piece reflects Inès’s belief in timeless simplicity and natural sophistication, offering everyday wear that feels both refined and free-spirited.

2023 Spring Summer

Design Development

Core Mood
Design Direction
Pattern Inspiration
Tactile Palette

In every collection, we prepare three types of mood boards: the core mood, which represents the main theme; a design board for item inspiration; and a pattern mood board. From these images, I extract the key colors. Rather than relying on printed materials, I source actual yarns and fabrics and attach them to the board. These selected materials later serve as color targets when dyeing the fabrics.

Moodboards

In the mood board stage, we created a pattern mood board as one of the three main boards. When developing the actual prints for the collection, I used this mood board as a reference point and conducted deeper research based on it. For this collection, I was fully in charge of the print development, which became one of my main responsibilities throughout the project.

Pattern development

Our pattern development starts with gathering references and sourcing fabric samples from textile mills. After reviewing the samples, we select those that best capture the right texture and mood, and refine the colors and designs to match the collection’s identity. Once the final fabrics are produced, we create samples using the actual materials, evaluate the outcomes, and move forward to production.

Process

1. Collecting References
2. Sourcing fabric samples
3. Fabric sampling
4. Garment sampling
5. Production

The knitwear development for this collection focused on translating the brand’s graphic identity into tactile form. My rule was to express the collection’s mood and themes through texture, color, and pattern, blending digital design with knit techniques. Each piece was developed with careful attention to visual rhythm, material balance, and how the garment interacts with the body in motion.

knit wear development

The process began with creating graphic designs digitally, followed by exploring a wide range of color variations to capture the right tone and feeling. After multiple meetings and discussions, the selected designs were developed into knitted fabrics in collaboration with the textile team. Once the fabrics were produced, we created samples using the actual materials, evaluated their texture and balance, and proceeded to final production after adjustments.

Process

Pattern design
Color variation development
Color variation development

Another area I was responsible for was the accessory design. While maintaining the French chic aesthetic characteristic of Inès de La Fressange, I conducted extensive trend research to ensure that the pieces would appeal to a broad range of UNIQLO customers. My focus was on finding the right balance between contemporary trends and the unique identity of the collection.

Accessory design

I began by researching how people styled accessories in everyday street settings, collecting visual references and inspiration materials. Using patterns and motifs from the collection, I designed the accessories with careful consideration of proportion, scale, and placement — adjusting the graphics and dimensions down to the millimeter to achieve the ideal balance.