UNIQLO and MAGNUM PHOTOS Announce New Project: Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL

November 1, 2024
November 1, 2024
~1 min read

PRESS RELEASE

UNIQLO logo featured in the Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL campaign.

Exhibition To Launch in New York City and in Over 10 Cities Around the World

New York, NY – October 30, 2024 – Global apparel retailer UNIQLO announces the launch of a major global photography exhibition. Created in close partnership with internationally renowned photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL will be held in over 10 major world cities, hosted in public locations over several weeks, and freely accessible to all. The global initiative was first launched in London in September with other participating cities to follow, including New York City.

Collage of three photographs from the UNIQLO PEACE FOR ALL project, capturing moments of peace and community in Vietnam, Ethiopia and Romania.

In honor of the stateside unveiling, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL debuted locally with an in-store installation at UNIQLO’s Fifth Avenue Flagship. In addition, the brand hosted a Magnum Photos-led photography workshop in partnership with the NYC Department of Social Services, with guests like Lindokuhle Sobekwa introducing youth to the art of photography and giving them firsthand practice under expert teachers.

Collage of three photographs from the UNIQLO PEACE FOR ALL project, capturing moments of peace and community in Vietnam, Ethiopia and Romania.

Also in New York, UNIQLO is partnering with NYC Parks for a public exhibition opening on Wednesday, October 30th in several of the city’s most iconic parks. The exhibits on view in NYC parks will offer an opportunity for New Yorkers and visitors to experience the PEACE FOR ALL project through the works of celebrated Magnum Photos photographers, helping to make art accessible to all through a message of peace.

 

Jean Shein, Global Director of Sustainability at UNIQLO expressed his excitement for the partnership, stating, "Art and sustainability have the power to transform perspectives, and through this exhibition in partnership with NYC Parks, we hope to inspire reflection on peace and the positive impact collective action can have on communities around the world."

 

Elizabeth Masella, Senior Public Art Coordinator at NYC Parks added, "We are thrilled to bring this exhibition to New York City's public spaces. By making these moving images accessible to all, we’re enriching out public greenspaces with high-quality art furthering our mission to create spaces of reflection and beauty amid the bustle of the city."

 

Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL is a creative photography exhibition to tell a unique story. The exhibition features a curated collection of striking, joyful, profound photographs from Magnum photographers Cristina de Middel, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, and Olivia Arthur, who travelled to Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Romania to capture moments of PEACE FOR ALL-funded support activities from their own perspectives. The project is intended as a worldwide reflection on the value of peace, to showcase the real-world impact of UNIQLO’s ongoing PEACE FOR ALL project.

 

The exhibition of 63 works, combining UNIQLO's ‘power of clothing’ with Magnum Photos' ‘power of photography’ ideals, shows the impact of ongoing customer support for UNIQLO’s PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project, which in 2024 celebrates two years and over 1.5 billion yen (approx. US$10 million) raised to date. All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to three international humanitarian organizations - UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), Save the Children, and Plan International - whose ongoing projects are captured in the exhibition.

 

The exhibition photographs shine a light on everyday lives of real people in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Romania who are beneficiaries of funds raised through PEACE FOR ALL, powerfully illustrating how each partner makes good use of funds raised through the initiative. Moreover, Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL presents an important opportunity for UNIQLO customers everywhere to witness the positive impact of their kind participation in PEACE FOR ALL.

Collage of photographs from the UNIQLO PEACE FOR ALL project in partnership with Plan International and Magnum Photos, highlighting communities in Vietnam, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL launched first in London’s King’s Cross at Coal Drops Yard in September. In addition to New York City, similar exhibitions will be on view in other world cities, including Tokyo, Hanoi, Paris, Milan, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and Stockholm. More exhibition details will soon be announced locally in each city.

 

New PEACE FOR ALL T-shirt Designs

To mark the collaboration between UNIQLO and Magnum Photos, three new PEACE FOR ALL designs launched on September 19 at UNIQLO stores and on uniqlo.com, showcasing photos used around the world at Global Photo Exhibition-PEACE FOR ALL. Each design depicts moments of PEACE FOR ALL-supported humanitarian activities in Vietnam, Romania, and Ethiopia, as seen from the perspective of Magnum photographers involved in the exhibition.

 

All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to international humanitarian organizations UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), Plan International, and Save the Children.

UNIQLO PEACE FOR ALL T-shirt featuring Magnum Photos design promoting global peace. UNIQLO PEACE FOR ALL T-shirt featuring a unique design by Magnum Photos, part of a global initiative with Plan International to promote peace and support humanitarian efforts.

Product name                            PEACE FOR ALL Charity T-shirt

Launch date                               Thursday, September 19, 2024

Price                                              $24.90

Sizes                                              XXS-3XL (Sizes available in stores are XS-XL)

Product website                           www.uniqlo.com/peace-for-all/

 

Comments from photographers

Cristina de Middel

“It is well known that creativity sits in our capacity to subvert the given order of things and the meanings we learned in our journey to adulthood. In my work, I reconnect to the absolute power that we are born with and use while we are still children. It's the same power that turns a folded piece of paper into a boat or a pencil into a rocket and I believe that looking at the world as a place you can change and modify is an essential skill to remind the next generation if we want to make a change. Working with these children in Vietnam gave me plenty of hope for what was to come and it was also a lot of fun.”

 

Olivia Arthur

“The most powerful tool that children have is their imagination. So I wanted to create a space where these children could come and express themselves and play with whatever came into their heads. There was a lot of giggling and some inventive creatures and poses.”

 

Lindokuhle Sobekwa

“I learn so much from the people I photograph. Working with people in Aw-barre Camp, Hope, Dreams, and Resilience became a central conversation I wanted my work to represent. I wanted to play with metaphors of the rainbow that symbolize hope and promise of a better time to come, as well as a powerful quote from one of the people I worked with. The image is set in a landscape on a border that separates the Ethiopian Jijiga from the Somali border, inhabited by Somalian refugees.”

 

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About Plan International

Plan International is an international development and humanitarian nonprofit that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of challenges children face. We are there from birth until adulthood, and we support children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity, while particularly focusing on the experiences of girls.

With more than 85 years of experience, we work to transform lives in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal. 

 

About PEACE FOR ALL

UNIQLO launched the PEACE FOR ALL project on 17 June 2022, and to date has featured designs from 38 collaborators (including this most recent collection). As of July 2024, more than 5 million T-shirts have been sold worldwide, raising more than JPY 1.5 billion (approx. US$10 million). UNIQLO parent company Fast Retailing contributes 100% of profits from the sale of these T shirts (equivalent to 20% of the selling price) to three international aid organizations, UNHCR, Save the Children, and Plan International Inc., which aid people impacted by poverty, discrimination, violence, and conflict.

 

About UNIQLO LifeWear

Apparel that comes from the Japanese values of simplicity, quality and longevity. Designed to be of the time and for the time, LifeWear is made with such modern elegance that it becomes the building blocks of each individual’s style. A perfect shirt that is always being made more perfect. The simplest design hiding the most thoughtful and modern details. The best in fit and fabric made to be affordable and accessible to all. LifeWear is clothing that is constantly being innovated, bringing more warmth, more lightness, better design, and better comfort to people’s lives.

 

About UNIQLO and Fast Retailing

UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese retail holding company with global headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. UNIQLO is the largest of eight brands in the Fast Retailing Group, the others being GU, Theory, PLST, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse tam.tam, J Brand and Helmut Lang. With global sales of approximately 3.1 trillion yen for the 2024 fiscal year ending August 31, 2024 (US $21.39 billion, calculated in yen using the end of August 2024 rate of $1 = 144.9 yen), Fast Retailing is one of the world’s largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Japan’s leading specialty retailer.

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 global brand. Today the company has a total of more than 2,500 UNIQLO stores across the world, including Japan, Asia, Europe and North America. The total number of stores across Fast Retailing's brands is now close to 3,600.

With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, Fast Retailing is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere.  For more information about UNIQLO and Fast Retailing, please visit www.uniqlo.com and www.fastretailing.com.

 

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Vannette Tolbert
Senior Manager, Communications
Email: v[email protected]

Mobile: +1 240.778.9077