Uniqlo’s fast-drying masks debut in Japan, long queue formed

Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo began selling its washable and fast-drying face masks on Friday. Customers stood in long lines as rain poured down outside of stores prompting a flood of social media photos.

Uniqlo’s website crashed due to the massive demand for the washable AIRism face masks. The servers remained down past midday and some stores ran out of stock. The company released a statement and apologized to the public. Uniqlo said that it is working hard to restore the website.

“There is currently a problem with the connection to our online store due to a large number of accesses from customers. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please wait for a while and try to access the website later,” Uniqlo posted on its website.

Uniqlo said that there would be more stocks available soon as it was stepping up the AiRism face mask production. The masks are sold in a pack of three (small, medium, and large) which are made of the same material with the AIRism underwear products.

According to Fast Retailing’s Corporate Communications Chief Aldo Liquori, Uniqlo will produce 500,000 masks every week.

The masks are sold for 990 Yen ($9.26) plus tax.