UNIQLO Launches U.S. HEATTECH Donation Initiative as Part of Global Giving Campaign: The Heart of LifeWear

Supporting Communities Nationwide on Giving Tuesday and Throughout the Holiday Season

NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- UNIQLO, the global apparel retailer, is proud to announce its participation in "The Heart of LifeWear," a new global initiative to support people in need through the donation of one million HEATTECH clothing items worldwide. In the United States, UNIQLO will donate 50,000 HEATTECH units to provide warmth to individuals experiencing homelessness, asylum seekers, refugees, and others in need.

Jean Shein, Global Director of Sustainability at UNIQLO, stated, "At UNIQLO, we believe in the power of clothing to make a positive impact on people's lives. Through 'The Heart of LifeWear' initiative, we are committed to supporting communities across the United States by providing warmth and comfort to those who need it most during this holiday season."

In the spirit of giving, customers are invited to contribute to this campaign by donating at checkout in all UNIQLO stores to support homeless youth through Covenant House. They can also donate their gently used UNIQLO clothing through the RE.UNIQLO program, which repurposes these items to further aid communities.

Partnering Organizations in the U.S.

Covenant House

Since 1972, Covenant House has offered housing and support to youth overcoming homelessness, human trafficking, and exploitation. By providing HEATTECH products, UNIQLO aims to meet the basic needs of Covenant House youth, empowering them with warmth and dignity this winter. This season, UNIQLO also hosted a Holiday HEATTECH Gifting Event at Covenant House's Pride Hall in New York City, transforming it into a festive winter wonderland. Youth enjoyed personalized shopping, manga-style portraits, video game competitions, cookie decorating, and raffle prizes, creating a joyful holiday experience with the support of UNIQLO volunteers. For more information, visit covenanthouse.org.

Save the Children

As the world's first and leading independent children's organization, Save the Children works in more than 250 rural U.S. communities in 14 states, providing essential services like early education and childcare. HEATTECH items, including beanies, socks, and ultra-warm innerwear, will help children in cold areas like Washington State and West Virginia stay warm. Save the Children also responds to crises, such as hurricanes, when warm clothing is critical. For more information, visit savethechildren.org.

Department of Homeless Services (DHS)

In partnership with NYC DHS, UNIQLO will provide HEATTECH items to unhoused individuals throughout the city. DHS's Street Homeless Solutions team will distribute these items during outreach efforts and at specialized centers. This essential gear will protect New Yorkers from the risks of hypothermia on the coldest days. Learn more at nyc.gov/dhs.

NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals' Street Health Outreach & Wellness (SHOW) program connects unhoused and vulnerable New Yorkers with medical and social services through its six mobile units. SHOW teams are staffed with a multidisciplinary team of medical providers, social workers, and counselors to provide patients medical care, behavioral health evaluations, and connections to harm reduction services, as well as food, water, and clothing. Since the program's launch in April 2021, SHOW teams have performed nearly 250,000 engagements with community members. UNIQLO's HEATTECH donation will support SHOW's mission by providing warm clothing to vulnerable patients in need of essential healthcare and stability. For more information, visit NYC Health + Hospitals' SHOW program website.

For more details on UNIQLO's Heart of LifeWear initiative, visit uniqlo.com.

About RE.UNIQLO

UNIQLO is committed to taking responsibility of the clothing it manufactures and sells throughout the lifecycles and has been collecting pre-worn UNIQLO items from customers to be reused or recycled over 20 years. RE.UNIQLO is an initiative that gives the pre-worn clothing new life and new value, providing customers with various solutions for them to appreciate and use clothing for a long time.

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 $21.42 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 over 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.

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SOURCE UNIQLO