Old Uniqlo tags: dating a Uniqlo piece by its label
In Japan, "old Uniqlo" (オールドユニクロ) is a small collecting field of its own: basics from the brand's early decades, dated by the tag at the neck. Here is the sequence of tags, and how we read one cardigan in our shop that carries the navy tag.
Short answer: a navy tag with white UNIQLO letters dates to about 2000 to early 2003. A navy tag with silver letters is older, about 1994 to 1999. A small round tag showing only the size is about 2003 to 2009, and a tag with katakana ユニクロ is the current style.
The tags in order
This sequence comes from a 2026 tag history by the Japanese fashion site FASHIONSNAP, supervised by an old-Uniqlo collector and checked against Uniqlo catalogs (FASHIONSNAP). The years are approximate, and tags overlapped at the changes.
| About when | Tag |
|---|---|
| 1984 to early 1990s | UNIQUE CLOTHING WAREHOUSE, the full early name. Very rare. |
| 1984 to early 1990s (after the first tag) | A tag reading "Unique". |
| From about 1993 | Green tags, in more than one design. |
| 1994 to about 1999 | Navy tag with silver-toned UNIQLO letters (the "silver tag"). |
| About 2000 to early 2003 | Navy tag with white UNIQLO letters (the "navy tag"). |
| 2003 to about 2009 | A small round tag showing only the size. |
| 2003 onward, standard by 2010 | The current tag, with katakana ユニクロ and UNIQLO. |
1. The neck tag
The letters are white, not silver, so this is the navy tag, about 2000 to early 2003. Look at the letters in daylight if you can. Under shop lights, white and silver can be hard to tell apart in a photo.
2. The labels inside
The fiber label reads cotton 100% and made in China, with the style number 504-0403. The care label uses Japan's old symbols, which were replaced on 1 December 2016, so it agrees with an early date. For how to read those symbols, see reading Japanese clothing labels.
One more clue from the same FASHIONSNAP history: from autumn/winter 2004, Uniqlo care labels carry a season code in brackets. This label has none, which also fits a piece from before then.
What we cannot tell you
The tag dates the label design, not the exact year this cardigan was sewn. Tags changed gradually, so a piece near a change can carry either style. We read this one as early 2000s.
Condition, honestly
The color has yellowed and faded overall, with clear sun-fading on the back. There are no holes or tears.
This cardigan is in our shop
We run a small vintage shop in Kawagoe, Japan (Old Pawn Notes and the shop are run by the same people). It measures 55 cm across the chest and 62.5 cm long. The shop page is in English; the detailed description is still in Japanese.
Sources
- FASHIONSNAP: Uniqlo tag history and how to tell them apart (in Japanese, August 2026)
- Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: the new care symbols from 1 December 2016 (in Japanese)
This guide was drafted with AI assistance from our own notes and photos, then checked by the shop owner. Every photo shows a real piece we handled. Any diagrams are simple drawings and are labelled as diagrams.