The delays will affect four items of the company's Uniqlo U brand which were due to be released in Japanese stores in September and October, a company spokesperson said.

Most garment factories in Vietnam are full of orders now, but they are facing a shortage of workers, particularly facilities located in lockdown areas, according to an executive at a state-run garment firm in Hanoi who asked not to be identified.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; editing by Jason Neely)