Japanese apparel giant Uniqlo sees India as the next major battleground in its global expansion plan, but competitors have already gained first-mover advantage there. BoF investigates how one of the world’s largest fashion retailers aims to seize a leadership position by unlocking the immense potential of a market whose unbridled dynamism is equalled only by its extreme complexity.

This week, Uniqlo’s Japanese owner Fast Retailing became the world’s most valuable fashion company, a reflection of just how much the pandemic is recentering the global fashion sector from the United States and Europe to Asia.

The Japanese retailer expects profit to rebound around 70 percent in the next fiscal year.

"After emails, phone calls and postcards poured in, chief Tadashi Yanai listened."

Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai will step down from SoftBank's board at the end of this month.

A diplomatic spat between the two countries has caused sales in South Korea to fall 40 percent year-on-year in July and more in August.

'The job is more suitable for a woman,' Yanai, the chief executive officer behind clothing giant Uniqlo, said in an interview.

As Asia's largest retailer grapples with one of the tightest labour markets in Japanese history, it hopes to lure top talent with the pay package.