Tadashi Yanai, Uniqlo founder,
president and CEO
How did Uniqlo become one of the hottest retailers in town?
The basic, anti-style clothing, which comes in a rainbow of colours is flying off the racks and is fast becoming a staple for urbanites.
The appeal in its affordable essential goods is overwhelming and it has literally invaded the fashion world by storm with its utilitarian styles.
Today, it has become almost ritualistic and habitual for people to pick out their Uniqlo pants, jeans, shirts and polo tees in a myriad of colours.
It is perhaps the only store where a Plain Jane and her not so plain best friend are able to shop in harmony.
Tadashi: I want to overtake fashion retailer Zara.
There are currently approximately 981 Uniqlo stores worldwide.
While Uniqlo has been in Japan since the 1980s, only in the last few years has it been opening stores in the fashion capitals of London, Paris, Moscow and Shanghai.
Here in Malaysia, we have stores in Fahrenhait 88, Setia City Mall, Midvalley Megamall, and 1Utama.
So not surprisingly, Uniqlo’s founder Tadashi Yanai is Japan’s richest man and is estimated to be worth some US$10bil (RM31bil) according to Forbes magazine.
Tadashi has been quoted about his ambition to overtake Spain’s Inditex, which owns Zara, to become the world’s largest clothing retailer. Tadashi hopes to be the biggest retailer in the world by 2020.
He was quoted as saying that he wants to overtake fashion retailer Zara by then, with targets of US$50bil in revenue and operating profits of US$10bil.
So how did Tadashi transform so many of us into “Uniclones”?
The “retailer” in his face literally shines! His face is practically glowing, implying that the qi is healthy. This is an obvious indicator of a person who is lively, alert and ready to capitalise on opportunities.
First of all Tadashi has an “inverse-triangle” face. People with such faces are always creative, imaginative and are deep thinkers.
You will notice that many fashion designers, artists and scientists have this sort of face. Money is not foremost on their minds, unlike say a money manager.
In Tadashi’s case, the money is simply a by product of his inventive and original thoughts. As the triangle face denotes thinking prowess, we can see how he found the ingenuity to join forces with Japanese chemical company Toray Industries to create its super successful winter range, Heattech.
The non-bulky fabric of Heattech uses a mixture of milk proteins and air pockets to retain heat yet remain soft and light.
It has been a hit and more than 40 million Heattech pieces have been sold.
Tadashi also has eyebrows that are curved upwards. Apart from showcasing his temper, (well who can blame him, as he’s way ahead of us!) it reveals someone with strong powers of observation and vision.
People with such eyebrows are typically blessed with artistic talent. In Tadashi’s case, it is fashion. Or perhaps, the talent of mass selling basic pieces in a melange of colours.
Tadashi’s ability to relate to people, to understand what they want and transform that into something material is very evident from his well formed earlobes and thick lower lips.
Firstly, all hedonistic people always have thick lips and fleshy earlobes.
People with such features are never boring and will not just be happy to maintain the status quo. That is also why, most tycoons have this feature. They are physically passionate, compassionate and always desire to achieve more.
The earlobes and lower lips show that Tadashi gains a lot of comfort and satisfaction through real material wants and needs. In the material sense, he is very adept at knowing what makes a person tick or how to make a person feel good. His forehead is high, which shows wisdom and high intellect.
He also has a round forehead which denotes of a person who is more idealistic than practical. This idealism however is balanced by his long, small eyes, which show that Tadashi is a shrewd character who has done his math before taking his giant leaps.
You will also notice that Tadashi’s nose wings aren’t exactly wide.
I have said before that rich people should always have wide nose wings, as this implies the ability to generate indirect income.
In the face, the bulb of the nose is the main source of income, usually a person’s salary.
Meanwhile, the nose wings show income generated from different sources, typically investments.
Successful people in the investing fraternity should always have wide nose wings, as they are using other people’s money to make more money. People who invest in properties and stocks typically have wide nose wings, as this shows that “money works for them” rather than the other way round, when a person is salary driven.
In Tadashi’s case though, he is a retailer, and all of his wealth should be coming from Uniqlo. A retailer is not an investor or a dealmaker. While a retailer is driven by wealth, the money is a byproduct of his creativity and ability to see what others want.
That is why, it does not really matter if Tadashi’s nose wings aren’t exactly wide.
So here we have it. The face of a darn good retailer.
Face time: Face Shui activities for the month included speaking to Sime Darby Bhd’s Gen-Ys on face reading. We had loads of fun.
Face tracker: I have read the face of Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd managing director Dr Kenneth Pereira and written my analysis on a piece of paper. My readings are now locked away in a secret safe. Whether I am right or wrong, I will reveal my forecast one year from today. Do keep track of Pereira’s moves. 
