This fall, Japanese fashion giant Uniqlo opened in South Coast Plaza and finally gave young twentysomething men in Orange County a place to buy basics that isn't H&M, American Apparel or, well, Target. The premise is exciting: Affordable, high-quality basics. Timeless, but well-fit cuts. Flexible styles. It's something that should've happened years ago. But then, years ago, Uniqlo didn't even have any U.S. locations. It didn't operate in the country until 2005, when the company quietly opened three small stores on the East Coast. The first West Coast location didn't open until 2012, and that one is in San Francisco. The buzz quickly outgrew the brick-and-mortars, and soon people were buying through proxy services, visiting stores while on vacation, and biting the bullet and buying blind online. The South Coast store is the first in Southern California, after 16 other Uniqlos have opened in distinctly less Asian areas of the United States. But hey, that'll be forgiven—just give us some cheap oxfords.
