TOKYO -- Fast Retailing, the world's fourth-largest clothing retailer, wants to grow bigger. For that, it is casting its net overseas. It is also looking to create a new retail business model and take on major global brands regardless of product category.

"It could be Nestle, Disney or Apple," Tadashi Yanai, chairman, president and chief executive of Fast Retailing, said in June during a news conference in Tokyo to announce a tie-up with Accenture, the world's leading consultancy. "All brands all around the world will be our competitors from now on."