Short answer. The T-shirts. Definitely the T-shirts. Love, love, love the T-shirts.

Uniqlo has sponsored a competition that looks like it may be repeated annually; it’s a design competition for that most universal form of self-exression, the T-shirt. And the store in New York has some truly creative designs (and best of all, you’ll know you’re getting a truly Japanese design).

Most come with a bilingual tag giving you information on the designer and any special techniques that were used.

I love that the designs span from futuristic to modern to traditional. There was one design which featured a blue sky; it was a gorgeous print, but I just couldn’t photograph it correctly.

Some of the shirts come with little gadgets which should appeal to the otaku in all of us. Or, they may make a great gift for the otaku in your life.

When I was thinking about Uniqlo last year. I wrote the following:

Japan has a treasure trove of images and ideas to mine for original designs; I’d hope that Japanese designers themselves would be conscious of this, take pride in it, and deliver something really outstanding to the ever-hungry-for-originality consumer.

I really like that, in addition to a fabulously designed space and solid basics, Uniqlo’s management has also brought over these fabulous T-shirts. The designs speak to what is contemporary and interesting about design in Japan and give the company a hip vibe alongside the basic clothing. That helps the brand. I’m guessing the T-shirts will also be a hit among the design conscious, which means that Uniqlo may having something for everyone after all.