ユニクロ Uniqlo

ユニクロのパリ第一号店が２００９年にオープンしてから今も衰えずフランス人に大人気です。街の中心にあるオペラ駅と大手デバートのギャラリー・ラファエットに近いという最高の立地もあり、訪れる人数が半端ないです。日本人からしたら想像しにくいですが、ユニクロはフランスではお洒落ブランドとしてのステータスを築いており、街中、ファッショニスタがユニクロの白い紙袋を持ちながら颯爽と歩いているのを頻繁に見かけます。前にも話したように、多くのフランス人は「シンプル・イズ・ベスト」という考えがあるため、ユニクロの高品質で安い、そしてシンプルなデザインがフランス人の心をつかんだようです。

私は日本ではユニクロがあまり身体にフィットしないため（私はどちらか言うと外国人体型で肩幅が広く、腕が長め、腰幅もあります）、あまり買ったことな かったのですが、パリでは品質が良くて安い洋服があまりないため最近ユニクロに入ってみました。駄目もとで試したチノパンツがぴったりフィットして思わず衝動買い！そして後ほど調べたらやはり海外用にサイズを調整しているようです。体型に合う服を見つけたのは嬉しいのですが、やはり自分は小柄な日本人とは違うと少し微妙な気持ちになりました・・・（＾＾；

Since its opening in 2009, Uniqlo's first store in Paris is still very popular among the French. There are tremendous number of people coming in as it's in the best location, near centrally located Opera station and major department store, Gallerie Lafayette. It's hard to imagine from a Japanese point of view but Uniqlo has established status as a trendy brand and you can often see fashionistas strutting around the city carrying the white Uniqlo paper bag. As I mentioned before, many French have the mentality of "simple is best" so the great quality but cheap and simple design of Uniqlo has really captured the French hearts. 

 I didn't buy Uniqlo clothes much in Japan as they didn't fit me well (I have a body which is more of a foreigner's, my shoulders are wider, arms are longer, and I have hips), however as there aren't many clothes that are cheap but good quality so I went to Uniqlo the other day. I tried on chino pants thinking I have nothing to lose and ended up buying them immediately as they were a perfect fit! Later on I did some research and found out that they have altered the size for foreigners. I was happy to find clothes which fit my body but it left me a bit confused thinking that I really am different from the smaller built Japanese... :|