Yanai, now Japan’s richest man, has spoken publicly of his desire to oust Uniqlo’s remaining rivals.

Crucial to his plan is expanding the business in Europe and the UK, with Dudech responsible for the latter.

“There’s a lot of competitors fighting for locations,” he says. “But I can tell you that our customer base is growing very rapidly.”

The company does not disclose its UK financials but recent accounts for Uniqlo Europe reveal revenues rose 52pc to €963m (£834m) in the past year.

As for Dudech, he has spent his entire professional life working for Uniqlo – apart from a short stint modelling for Abercrombie & Fitch.

Born near Milan, he landed at Uniqlo in 2012 after abandoning plans for a career in consulting.

“I always thought I would end up being in finance or consulting,” he says. “There is an allure to that industry but I tried to imagine myself in an office, in a cubicle, versus being on the shop floor. And I thought [retail] is what I want to do.”

Since moving up the ranks, from graduate scheme to UK chief operating officer, Dudech has embraced Uniqlo’s simplicity.

“Coming from Italy, we’re home to some of the most logo-heavy brands you can imagine,” he says.

“With Uniqlo, there’s no logo. I thought I knew a couple of things about fashion as an Italian, but I’d never heard of it before, this company coming from Japan – I just thought it was very intriguing.”