The new UT t-shirts are based on manga published in Weekly Shounen Sunday and Weekly Shonen Magazine, which are celebrating their 50th birthday this year.

UT stands for Uniqlo T-shirt. The brand’s concept store was opened last year April in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku area, 5000 square feet divided over 4 floors. UT t-shirts are sold in clear plastic canisters displayed like canned food in a fashionable high-end supermarket.

UT t-shirts are designed by renowned artists, designers, photographers and musicians. Among others: Terry Richardson, Nobuyoshi Araki, Kim Jones, Peter Saville, Gareth Pugh and Solve Sundsbo. The t-shirts are first introduced here and eventually find their way to UNIQLO stores all over the world.

“The UT Project has one goal in mind – to let you wear what you love,” explained Markus Kiersztan, owner of MP Creative and consulting creative director for UNIQLO when the store opened last year. “T-shirts have become an important form of self-expression for the current youth culture, allowing people to highlight their sense of individuality. By selecting artists from all genres and aesthetics to design t-shirts for this project, we have tried to create a collection that embraces the inspiring diversity of our customers.”

When I first visited the shop, I didn’t quite know how to take it. Four floors filled with nothing but t-shirts displayed like canned food. Hey, it is a bit overwhelming.