Which Japanese company owns the global clothing brand Uniqlo?

Fast Retailing is the Japanese company that owns the global clothing brand Uniqlo.

Fast Retailing operates Uniqlo, one of the world’s best-known apparel brands. The company traces its origins to a men’s clothing shop opened by Tadashi Yanai’s father in Ube, Japan, in 1949. The first Uniqlo store opened in Hiroshima in 1984, and the brand later expanded internationally with a focus on simple designs, functional fabrics, and relatively consistent global merchandising.

Fast Retailing’s market capitalization is tied heavily to Uniqlo’s performance, although the group also owns other brands, including GU and Theory. It is one of Japan’s largest public companies and regularly appears in international comparisons of valuable apparel retailers.

A common mix-up is to identify Uniqlo itself as the listed parent. Uniqlo is the consumer-facing brand, while Fast Retailing is the corporate group whose shares trade publicly. The distinction matters when market-cap rankings are calculated because investors value the parent company.