I’m not sure about you, but whenever I’m scrolling a property owned by Meta (that’s Facebook or Instagram, for the most part), I get advertised these ‘splash blankets’ that promise to be 100% waterproof and provide clean, dry sheets ‘no matter what accidents might happen’. The adverts themselves are fairly innocuous; people knocking over glasses, pets coming home from their walk with wet paws, accidental dinner spillages when couples are eating dinner on their beds (for some reason).
There is certainly some subtext here, but I digress. These adverts come to mind because today Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo announced its latest line of collaboration clothing – and this time it zeroes in squarely on Pokémon TCG. It’s not the first time Uniqlo has teamed up with prestige video game brands – we’ve previously seen Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, and the mainline Pokémon series – but this is the first time the card game itself has taken centre stage (thanks, TCG Pocket).
The one shirt that stands out to me, though, is the Magikarp one. It pays homage to the lil’ fish with a lot of potential’s signature move, splash (which, famously, does nothing in the video games). Throughout its time in the TCG, it’s actually managed to do some damage (albeit, only 10). The shirt is a nod to that, though walking around with the words ‘EXPERT SPLASHER’ on your chest might give people a certain idea about your non-public activities. But maybe that’s just me, and my inference thanks to all these ads I get that seem to suggest something about my lifestyle.
Elsewhere in the collection, there is an absolutely gorgeous Snorlax sweater in a nice deep blue that is quite understated, stylish, and doesn’t – at first glance – make any sort of reference to what you might get up to behind closed doors (unless there’s a Lazy Press entry on Urban Dictionary I’ve yet to be subjected to).
The new collection is now live on the Uniqlo website, costing £19.90 (or $24.90) for the t-shirts, and £29.90 (or $39.90) for the jumpers. Pleasantly, the entire line is unisex.