BOSTON (July 30, 2024)—The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), and global apparel retailer UNIQLO have announced a new collection of UT Graphic Tees inspired by ukiyo-e prints from the Museum’s preeminent holdings of Japanese art. Drawing on the success of earlier collaborations, the “Dark Fantasy” collection comprises four new T-shirts depicting monsters and ghosts that appeared in popular books and kabuki plays in 19th-century Japan. Launching August 12, the designs will be available online, in UNIQLO stores and at the MFA Shop.

The MFA’s collection of more than 5,000 ukiyo-e woodblock prints is among the largest and finest in the world. Visitors can see a rotating selection in the Museum’s Japanese Print Gallery, which was renovated with support from UNIQLO and unveiled earlier this year as part of a suite of newly transformed Arts of Japan galleries. In celebration of these new spaces, UNIQLO is sponsoring a day of free admission and art making at the MFA on September 14 as well as First Fridays—evenings featuring gallery talks, music and specialty cocktails—on August 2 and September 6.

“Our continuing collaboration with UNIQLO embraces the integration of art, culture and fashion, while broadening the MFA’s engagement with a global audience,” said Debra LaKind, Senior Director, Intellectual Property and Business Development at the MFA. “UNIQLO brings art to life, combining style and culture through wearable designs. We’re incredibly grateful for this ongoing partnership, which enables us to share our renowned collection with the world.”

“We are honored to help bring art to all through this special partnership with the MFA, founded in our shared appreciation of Japanese arts and culture,” said Jean Shein, Global Director of Sustainability at UNIQLO. “The Dark Fantasty collection celebrates a style of Japanese art that our customers have loved seeing in our stores, expressed through a T-shirt. We look forward to the launch of this collaboration and our continued work together with the MFA.”

The “Dark Fantasy” collection designs feature elements drawn from seven iconic prints by some of the most renowned ukiyo-e masters: 

• The Origin Story of the Cat Stone at Okabe, Representing One of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road: Actors Sawamura Sojūrō V (?) as Teranishi Kanshin (R), Onoe Kikugorō III as the Cat Monster (C), and Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Ōe Inabanosuke (L) (1847) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) 
• The Former Emperor from Sanuki Sends His Retainers to Rescue Tametomo (about 1851–52) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) 
• Iga no Tsubone and the Ghost of Fujiwara Nakanari (1865), Ōya no Tarō Mitsukuni (1865), The Greedy Old Woman (Don'yoku no baba) (1865) and Leizhen (Raishin) (1865) from the series One Hundred Ghost Stories from China and Japan (Wakan hyaku monogatari) (1865) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) 
• The Ghost of Oiwa (Oiwa-san), from the series One Hundred Ghost Stories (Hyaku monogatari) (about 1831–32) by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849)

About the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The MFA brings many worlds together through art. Showcasing masterpieces from ancient to modern, our renowned collection of nearly 500,000 works tells a multifaceted story of the human experience—a story that holds unique meaning for everyone. From Boston locals to international travelers, visitors from across the globe come to experience the MFA. Through both art and audience, the Museum brings together diverse perspectives—revealing connections, exploring differences, creating a community where all belong. Plan your visit at mfa.org.

UNIQLO and the MFA

UNIQLO became part of the Boston community in the fall of 2015 at historic Faneuil Hall. Five additional store openings followed, including a location at 341 Newbury Street. Since the launch of UNIQLO’s 10-year partnership with the MFA in the fall of 2017, educators from the Museum have hosted a range of art-making activities that are free and open to the public at the company’s stores throughout Massachusetts. UNIQLO additionally supports a variety of programs celebrating Japanese art and culture at the MFA, including the annual Boston Festival of Films from Japan.

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, Helmut Lang, PLST (Plus T), Comptoir des Cotonniers, Princesse tam.tam and J Brand. With global sales of approximately 2.2905 trillion yen for the 2019 fiscal year ending August 31, 2019 (US $21.53 billion, calculated in yen using the end of August 2019 rate of $1 = 106.4 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 more than 2,200 stores in 25 markets including Japan. In alphabetical order, the other markets are Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. U.S. and Vietnam. In addition, UNIQLO established a social business in Bangladesh together with the Grameen Bank in 2010, and today there are several Grameen-UNIQLO stores in Dhaka.

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.