GU unveils first collection under Francesco Risso

GU, the Fast Retailing-owned sister brand to Uniqlo, has launched its fall/winter 2026 collection, the first by new creative director Francesco Risso. The collection is a comprehensive overhaul of the brand's product lineup timed to its 20th anniversary.

Risso, the former Marni creative director, has restructured GU's offering around six lifestyle concepts — Minimal, Classic, Playful, Utility, Sport and Cozy — each presented as a complete wardrobe with its own character, designed to be mixed across categories. The concepts range from monochrome, streamlined pieces to 1970s-inflected casualwear, expressive color and pattern play, functional city-to-outdoors staples, street styles drawing on 1980s and 1990s sportswear, and pastel-toned loungewear.

Pricing stays firmly in GU's value territory: highlighted pieces run from 9.90 dollars for a warm waffle crew-neck T-shirt to 69.90 dollars for a faux leather balloon-hem jacket. The collection has begun rolling out, with the full fall offering available from July 24.

The appointment signals the scale of Fast Retailing's ambitions for the brand. "GU is a business with tremendous potential and a key driver of the Fast Retailing Group's next phase of growth," said Tadashi Yanai, chairman, president and CEO of Fast Retailing, in a statement. "We will take on the challenge of evolving into a global brand together with Francesco Risso, a world-class creative talent."

Risso spent a decade at Prada before serving as creative director of Marni from 2016 to 2025, where he built a distinctive vision shaped by music, art and cultural exploration. His arrival at GU pairs a designer known for expressive, conceptual work with a mass-market value proposition.

"The wardrobe of today needs to feel grounded and accessible, yet also leave space for imagination, individuality, and play," Risso said. "Everyday dressing can be both practical and expressive, familiar and surprising."

The new chapter is framed around the Japanese word "jiyū," meaning freedom. GU president and CEO Tomokazu Kurose said the brand has combined customer-centered product development with Risso's creativity, adding that customers "will be pleasantly surprised by the prices."

Established in 2006, GU operates approximately 480 stores across Asia and entered the US market in 2024 with a SoHo flagship in New York — its first store outside Asia — alongside a nationwide e-commerce site.