Chinese shoppers got down on the floor, up on tables, and in face-to-face tussles on Monday to get their hands on UNIQLO UT x KAWS special edition T-shirts, and the frenzy left a series of videos and memes in its wake.
Multiple clips of crazed shoppers have been floating around Weibo over the past day, where the hashtag # Everybody KAWS has already received over 460 million views.
Chinese shoppers are going absolutely crazy over UNIQLO x KAWS collection: https://t.co/DeC9xNgpOk pic.twitter.com/T01gYCAHXB
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) June 3, 2019
People were so eager to make it to the racks that some dropped phones and other belongings without realizing it, like this 100RMB bill someone picked up at a UNIQLO entrance:
“I still haven’t grabbed any clothes” “Found 100rmb at the UNIQLO entrance”
Stripped mannequins were delimbed and dishonored by the crowds that swept through to get their hands on the special edition T-shirts:
“Someone help me!!!”
This is actually the New York based graffiti artist-turned-designer and worldwide sensation KAWS’s fourth time collaborating with UNIQLO, but seems to be the first time Chinese shoppers had such an unbridled response to his work.
The shirts that sparked the craze feature various iterations of his signature “COMPANION” figure, which is a dark overwriting of Mickey Mouse, and alternative Sesame Street animations:
Some have commented on social media that wearing one of these shirts after these events took place is like a form of self-protection, because anybody who was able to snatch one must know how to fight and run fast.
So, basically it’s a badge that says, “don’t fuck with me”.
