Francesco Risso got a glimpse of his future when his old employer, Marni, linked up with his current employer, Fast Retailing, for a collaboration with Uniqlo. It was his first time working to the scale of a mass retailer, aiming to reach a mass audience. The effect was instantaneous.
“I remember the clothes were immediately in the streets, in multiple cities at the same time, all over the world,” Risso says. “And it delivered a sense of joy. It’s very rewarding to be able to feel the streets in that way, and not just be up in a tower, remotely detached from it.”
Soon, more of Risso’s designs will be seen, shopped and styled by the masses. His first collection for GU, the sister brand to Uniqlo, will go on sale on July 14 in the US, followed by Japan and Asia in August. Risso has been working as GU’s creative director since last year, soon after he left his post at Marni (though the new role wasn’t formally announced until January).
Risso is aware he doesn’t fit the formula perfected by Fast Retailing, the Japanese retail empire that owns Uniqlo, Theory, and Helmut Lang, as well as GU, created by Tadashi Yanai in 1991. It’s an organization orchestrated to be efficient, precise, and practical; Risso, in his words, is expressive, passionate, and fiery. “I’m a bit weird in the recipe,” he says. “Creativity has defined my being so much. But that’s the exact point of this beautiful contrast between myself and Mr. Yanai. It’s a beautiful oxymoron that creates the language that I guess is needed at this particular time.”
Risso, who spent eight years designing at Prada before joining Marni in 2016, is looking forward to delivering something more accessible. “Right now, fashion prices are going higher. Luxury — who can really define this word? I don’t think that the word stands for so much on its own anymore,” he says. “I think there’s a great opportunity in understanding that there is a huge amount of people right now wanting to find good clothes for great prices.” GU’s current online bestsellers include Bermuda shorts for $29.90, cotton tees for $9.90, and a tiered skirt for $39.40.
Risso is far from the only designer drawn to a mass retailer role. Similar creative director partnerships have shaped a narrative that fashion is being democratized: John Galliano at Zara, Clare Waight Keller at Uniqlo, Isaac Mizrahi at Target, Zac Posen at Gap Inc. The exchange is well understood: the designer gets a steady job and to get their work in front of more people; the retailer gains instant fashion cachet. You just have to hope that the corporate and the creative mesh. It doesn’t always pan out; Peter Do lasted less than two years at Helmut Lang — though that came with the complicated challenge of reviving a beloved designer-founded label.