The American artist Kaws has once again teamed up with Japanese clothing chain for a series of shirts that were released worldwide. In China, clips show all hell breaking loose.
Footage circulating online shows people rushing the stores, even dropping their cell phones as they raced towards the store, pulling shirts off mannequins (and pulled the arms off mannequins to remove the shirts) and getting into fights over the desirable $15 tops.
According to What’s on Weibo, the hashtag “#Everybody Kaws” (#全员kaws#) has 140 million views on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
Global Times reports how rumors circulated that this would be Kaws’ last collaboration with Uniqlo. The release was met with long lines around the world, with shoppers snapping up everything they could.
According to That’s Mag, however, the shirts have been going for up to four times more on Taobao.
I get it. This is a hyped release. People are excited. People want these shirts. But next time, hopefully, Uniqlo can release them in a way that doesn’t lead to fisticuffs.