Last Updated: 2026.02.27
UNIQLO Donates Over One Million Items of HEATTECH in 2025 - Part of The Heart of LifeWear initiative, donations for Syrian returnees and others in 28 countries and regions uphold safety and dignity for people around the world
UNIQLO CO., LTD.
to Japanese page
Global apparel retailer UNIQLO launched "The Heart of LifeWear" initiative in winter 2024, donating one million new items of HEATTECH thermal clothing to refugees, children, disaster victims, and other people in difficult situations around the world as a support measure to make their lives a little more comfortable. For 2025, UNIQLO made an additional donation of one million items.
Commenting on the initiative, Koji Yanai, Senior Group Executive Officer at Fast Retailing Co. Ltd, the parent company of UNIQLO, said, "In the 2025 fall/winter season, the second year of The Heart of LifeWear program, we donated more than one million items of HEATTECH in areas around the world thanks to the cooperation of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency; international NGOs; and Toray Industries; as well as our business partners, Global Brand Ambassadors, employees, and everyone who supports this activity. There are many people in need of urgent support in Syria and other places where international assistance has difficulty reaching. With everyone's cooperation, we will continue to deliver even more UNIQLO LifeWear to people around the world in need of clothing, and conduct activities that support dignity for people and their capacity to live."
Total of 100,000 items donated to children's homes in Japan, and areas affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake
In the fall/winter 2025 season, UNIQLO donated a total of 100,000 HEATTECH products throughout Japan to children's homes, children living with illness and their families, disaster victims, and people with disabilities. On October 12, the JFA UNIQLO Soccer Kids in Ishikawa (Noto) program was held at the Ishikawa sports ground of Japan Aviation High School, an area impacted by the 2024 Noto earthquake. JFA UNIQLO Soccer Kids Captain Atsuto Uchida enjoyed a day of soccer with the children and handed out HEATTECH donations to participants. On December 6th, sumo stablemasters and wrestlers from Ishikawa Prefecture, including Kitajin-oyakata, stablemaster and recently retired sumo wrestler from Anamizu, visited the city of Nomi in Ishikawa, where many evacuees from the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake now reside, to personally deliver HEATTECH. In addition, continuing from 2024, UNIQLO Global Brand Ambassadors Shingo Kunieda, Kei Nishikori, and Ayumu Hirano also participated in activities in Japan, visiting children's homes and welfare facilities, handing out gifts and donating HEATTECH to warm people's hearts.
In cooperation with UNHCR, 500,000 items donated to Syrian returnees facing extreme cold
UNIQLO, at the request of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, with which it has a global partnership, donated 500,000 items of HEATTECH to returnees in Syria. According to UNHCR, since the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, around 1.35 million refugees have returned to Syria,* mainly from neighboring countries. Many parts of Syria are experiencing near freezing temperatures daily, forcing people to live in precarious conditions with extreme cold. Through UNHCR, UNIQLO has delivered 500,000 items of HEATTECH with the aim of contributing to a safe and dignified life for these returnees. UNIQLO also delivered more than 500,000 items for projects around the world to help people in need, including disaster victims, the homeless, the poor, and children in socially disadvantaged situations.
* As of January 15, 2026. 
Syria governorates of return overview (Source: UNHCR)
2025 Fall/Winter Season Donations to 28 Countries and Regions Worldwide
* Includes both HEATTECH and AIRism items, depending on the climate of the donation region.
** Figure for Singapore is the donation plan. Items are scheduled to be donated in March 2026.
The Heart of LifeWear activities
The Heart of LifeWear initiative originated with UNIQLO considering the question "What makes life better?" and asking how, in its 40th anniversary year, the brand could take further concrete action to contribute to society through LifeWear. Each year since, UNIQLO has donated more than one million items of HEATTECH, AIRism and other products to people in need around the world.
About Fast Retailing's global partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
UNIQLO parent company Fast Retailing began working with UNHCR in 2006, providing clothing assistance for refugees and displaced persons around the world, and making support for refugees one of the key components of its sustainability program. In 2011, Fast Retailing became the first company based in Asia to enter a global partnership with UNHCR, enabling more comprehensive support to address the refugee crisis. Along with providing used clothing items collected through its product recycling initiative to refugee camps, Fast Retailing provides a wide range of humanitarian assistance, including refugee self-reliance programs, employing refugees in UNIQLO and GU stores, and leading refugee awareness campaigns.
https://www.fastretailing.com/eng/sustainability/community/refugees.html
About UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. They lead international action to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. They deliver life-saving assistance, help safeguard fundamental human rights and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place called home where they can build a better future. We also work to ensure that stateless people are granted a nationality. Their teams bring expertise, compassion, and unwavering dedication to protect and care for millions worldwide.
https://www.unhcr.org/
