Toronto, June 11, 2024 – Global apparel retailer UNIQLO today announces the worldwide release of three new designs for its ongoing PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project. All profits from sales of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts are donated to international humanitarian organisations UNHCR (the UN refugee agency), Save the Children, and Plan International, for use in global peace projects. The three new designs will be available from Friday, 21 June.
The PEACE FOR ALL project features T-shirts with designs expressing a wish for peace, provided voluntarily by friends of UNIQLO who support the aim of “taking action for world peace.” The latest designs have been created by three new collaborators: designer Tokujin Yoshioka, photographer Saul Leiter, and calligrapher Han Meilin.
Thanks to widespread support from customers, more than four million PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts have been sold since the launch of the project in June 2022, with the total amount of donations from sales exceeding 1.2 billion yen. Funds raised to date have been used to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to protect the lives of displaced people around the world, and to support children who are living in difficult circumstances due to conflict and persecution.
Koji Yanai, Fast Retailing Group Senior Executive Officer, commented:
“We are extremely pleased that PEACE FOR ALL, which was launched two years ago to spread the message of peace, and to make a positive change in the world through T-shirts, has resonated with so many people, raising 1.2 billion yen in donations. I would like to express our gratitude once again to all the customers, collaborators, and partner organisations who have supported us so far in this project. At the same time, we hope to continue to expand the project further, so that the message of a wish for peace will reach the many people facing difficult circumstances around the world.”
Overview of the New PEACE FOR ALL Designs
Messages from new collaborators
Tokujin Yoshioka (Artist, Designer)
“Light for Peace
The reflection emits a light of hope.
The light is a wish for peace.”
Saul Leiter (Photographer)
Saul Leiter had a knack for capturing peaceful moments that hush the considerable noise of New York City. “It’s been decided that I have a penchant for quietness,” he once said with a chuckle. Whether Leiter was observing a gentle kiss in Times Square amid the hubbub of New Year’s Eve celebrations, or finding a solitary young girl in a red coat making a snowball behind a downtown apartment building, the photographer communed with his surroundings to portray a uniquely tranquil vision of his beloved New York.
Han Meilin (Artist)
“I’ve created numerous animal drawings, driven by my deep love for nature and animals. The true calling of an artist lies in treating all forms of life with kindness. I see the world through a heart filled with love, dedicated to the pursuit of peace. The dove, holding an olive branch, stands as a powerful symbol of peace, and its impact reaches far beyond the canvas. Great love knows no bounds.”
Product name: PEACE FOR ALL Charity T-shirt
Launch date: Friday, June 21, 2024
Price: ¥1,500
Sizes: XS-4XL (Sizes available in stores are S-XL)
Availability: UNIQLO stores and the online store
Special website: https://www.uniqlo.com/jp/en/contents/sustainability/peace-for-all/
Product website: https://www.uniqlo.com/peace-for-all/
Participating collaborators
Akamai Technologies, Technology Company
Jonathan Anderson, Designer
Tadao Ando, Urbanist, Architect
Haruka Ayase, Actress
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Artist
Dick Bruna, Picture Book Author Graphic Designer
Roger Federer, Professional Tennis Player
Ines de la Fressange, Model and designer
Han Meilin, Artist
Keith Haring, Artist
Herzog & de Meuron, Architects
Ayumu Hirano, Professional Snowboarder, Skateboarder
Khaled Hosseini, Novelist
Rei Inamoto, Creative Director
Kosuke Kawamura, Collage Artist, Graphic Designer, Art Director
KAWS, Artist
Shingo Kunieda, Professional Wheelchair Tennis Player
Hakujyu Kuiseko, Calligrapher
Lisa Larson, Ceramicist
Saul Leiter, Photographer
Christophe Lemaire, Designer
Christina de Middel, President of Magnum Photos
Daido Moriyama, Photographer
Moomin Novels, Picture Books & Comics
Emmanuelle Moureaux, Architect, Artist, Designer
Haruki Murakami, Novelist
Yu Nagaba, Artist
Kei Nishikori, Professional Tennis Player
Julian Opie, Artist
PEANUTS Comic
Jason Polan, Artist
Gordon Reid, Professional Wheelchair Tennis Player
Francesco Risso, Creative Director of Marni
Kashiwa Sato, Creative Director
Adam Scott, Professional Golfer
Hana Tajima, Designer
ULTRAMAN, Ultraman
Wim Wenders, Film Director
Shinya Yamanaka, Physician-Scientist
Takeshi Yoro, Anatomist
Tokujin Yoshioka, Artist, Designer
Donation amount and activity report
UNIQLO launched the PEACE FOR ALL project on 17 June, 2022, and to date has featured designs from 41 collaborators (including this most recent collection). As of the end of April 2024, a total of 4,044,163 T-shirts have been sold worldwide, raising more than JPY 1,213 million.
Donation recipients
UNIQLO parent company Fast Retailing contributes all profits from the sale of PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts (equivalent to 20% of the selling price) evenly to three partner aid organisations through their representatives in Japan. Donations are used to fund activities for international peace.
Messages from partner organisations
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) www.unhcr.org
Mr. Ayaki Ito, Representative, UNHCR Representation in Japan:
“We at UNHCR express our sincere gratitude for the donation Fast Retailing and its UNIQLO customers have made through ‘PEACE FOR ALL.’ The additional donation from this campaign will enable us to address refugees’ immediate needs during emergencies and create lasting solutions for refugees in health care, WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), livelihoods and self-reliance. With over 110 million people forcibly displaced due to conflict and persecution, your contributions are critical for UNHCR’s swift response, particularly in the Rohingya emergency and pressing crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela.”
Save the Children https://www.savethechildren.ca/
Akiko Takai, Executive Director cum Secretary General, Save the Children Japan:
“Thank you to everyone who has supported us through PEACE FOR ALL, and everyone who has purchased T-shirts. With the help of your donations, we have been able to deliver food, daily essentials, livelihood support, health, education, as well as mental health and psychosocial support, to many children affected by conflict and natural disasters around the world, including in Ukraine. “Clearly there is no inherent impossibility in saving the children of the world. It is only impossible if we make it so by our refusal to attempt it.” This is a quote from Eglantyne Jebb, the founder of Save the Children. We look forward to supporting even more children around the world through your participation in the PEACE FOR ALL initiative.”
Plan International https://www.plan-international.org/
Kiyoko Ikegami, Chair of the Board, Plan International Japan:
“Donations through “PEACE FOR ALL” are used for a project to prevent early marriage (child marriage) of ethnic minority girls in Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. Donations are used to improve children’s educational environment, as well as raising awareness so that they can decide their own life. We feel truly honored to play a part in this valuable initiative together with you to build a more peaceful world and to help children lead their own lives. We show our deepest gratitude to UNIQLO to provide us with such a meaningful opportunity.”
Actions for Peace Supported by PEACE FOR ALL
Together with organisations around the world that share the aim of PEACE FOR ALL to “take action for world peace,” UNIQLO conducts activities to contribute to peace worldwide. The below report details the major initiatives conducted by partner organisations using funds donated through PEACE FOR ALL – listing the specific actions taken, where the assistance is directed, and who is helped.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Expenditure report: Approx. 348.6 million yen (2022 – 2024)
Humanitarian Assistance Toward the Ukraine Emergency
Humanitarian assistance was provided to people forcibly displaced by the war, including cash-based intervention to approximately 900,000 people and the provision of daily necessities to 570,000 people in Ukraine.
Humanitarian Assistance Toward the Rohingya Emergency
In collaboration with UNIQLO, 425 refugee women underwent skills training to empower Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh. The stipend received from making sanitary napkins and underwear products supports their livelihoods. To date, 3 million sanitary napkins have been produced thanks to this program. In addition, UNIQLO also provided humanitarian assistance to forcibly displaced people affected by Cyclone Mocha in May 2023.
Humanitarian Assistance Toward the South Sudan Emergency
As part of its program to support self-reliance for refugees, UNIQLO has been supporting the UNHCR’s MADE51 activities to raise brand awareness in support of refugee livelihoods. Artisans, including refugee women in South Sudan, utilize their skills and talents cultivated in their homelands to create and sell goods in collaboration with UNIQLO.
(The above report represents a portion of expenditure, with donations also utilised for other global emergencies.)
Save the Children
Expenditure report: Approx. 100 million yen (June 2022 – August 2023)
Humanitarian Assistance: Ukraine Crisis (Ukraine and Neighbouring Countries), Türkiye-Syria Earthquakes and Emergencies in Other Countries.
More than 80% of donations are used for emergency humanitarian assistance. For the Ukraine crisis, more than 1.33 million families, including about 760,000 children, were provided with cash transfers, water, food, and hygiene products in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries hosting refugees.
In the aftermath of the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, people without access to safe drinking water, or toilets and showers, were provided with hygiene kits, toilets, etc. More than 350,000 people received this assistance.
Plan International
Expenditure report: Approx. 33.6 million yen (April 2023 – March 2024)
Project to Prevent Child Marriage in Vietnam
With the aim of deepening understanding of the harmful effects of premature marriage (child marriage) and enabling girls to make their own life choices, we conducted training sessions and awareness-raising activities for students, teachers, and parents, and renovated school facilities. Skill development courses for trainers were conducted for 195 teachers, and approximately 9,000 children, teachers, and parents have participated in awareness-raising events.
Media Contact
For additional information please contact Jessica Bryant, Head of Communications, Media and Public Relations:
About Save the Children
Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In Canada and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.