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Futura for Undercover AW98 Collection ‘Exchange.’

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The collection booklet displays some background details on Jun’s process for the collection as well as imagery and descriptions on how to customize your Undercover Small Parts garments. Jun's collection booklet features designs done in collaboration with New York graffiti artist Futura 2000. Futura’s 'Pointman' figures are drawn wearing different pieces of clothing from the collection. Undercover’s 1998 Small Parts/Exchange collection was a highly original and clever idea for Undercover and has continued to be referenced and collected.

Punk. Fantasy. Couture. Counterculture. Believe it or not, all of these words and more come to mind when people hear the name ‘Undercover’. From its highly acclaimed collections capturing the essence of the times, to collaborations with a wide range of brands including Supreme and Nike, the Japanese cult brand is a pioneer in combining youth and countercultures with high fashion over the course of decades. Its impact on both fashion and culture as a whole is simply incomprehensible, but perhaps we can gain a clearer understanding of it through it’s founder Jun Takahashi.

Born in 1969 in the countryside of Japan, Jun Takahashi radiated rebellious energy from the very beginning, becoming infatuated with English punk band Sex Pistols and punk-esque designer Vivienne Westwood from a young age. This fascination with clothing led him to enroll in Japan’s prestigious Bunka Fashion College, where he would create Undercover together with his friend Hironori Ichinose. The beginnings of Undercover consisted of clothing inspired by the work of Vivienne Westwood, but soon began to find its own voice and soon enough its own cult following. Takahashi, together the Japanese fashion figures Hiroshi Fujiwara and Nigo, created the ‘limited streetwear’ formula before the likes of Supreme ever did, creating a mysterious aura around his brand as a result. This strategy of incorporating high quality clothing with youth and streetwear sensibilities would build up Undercover’s notoriety over the years, eventually taking the spotlight on the world stage from its debut Paris collection at Paris Fashion Week in 2002 and beyond. The rest is history: Undercover has proven itself as a force to be reckoned with, influencing both people in the fashion industry and creatives who dream for greatness. With Undercover’s existence in this world, who is to say that greatness is just a dream?

Exchange Booklet

The various references to the 'Crust Punk' Aesthetic & Ethnic fabrics used created a tense atmosphere in the showroom. With subtle references to 9/11 during a tense time Jun Takahashi stepped in a realm which no designer at the time had even wanted to think about. He closed the show dressing models in a array of multi coloured burqas. In which shocked the crowd in a way nobody had expected, helping the collection & designer reach new levels of credit & praise from both media & consumers. 

ss2003 Scab Runway Looks

"As for 'RELIEF' I took a cue from friction marks of old clothes. I worked on the proposition whether shading can cover all the details in design. I first sewed a collar, patch pockets and buttons on the bodice, then tucked silicon parts under the textile and after repeating dyeing and bleaching, I put the collar back into its original position and took off the pockets as well as buttons, transforming the imprints produced by the color fading and friction marks into design details. The results were dresses with no details at all but conceptual. The hair and makeup of the models were also expressed only by shading, thus I single-mindedly stuck around the world of monochrome. I only added pink on a tie of the last look, taking a hint from the director Akira Kurosawa’s film “High and Low.” The more interesting development might be possible if I challenged now once again, but the collection can be classified as superior in terms of perfection of that time." (Excerpt from Undercover 25th Anniversary Special Edition of Quotation Magazine)

Undercover behind the scenes for So-En

Though many passionate followers of Undercover would say that its greatest collection to date is SS2003 ‘SCAB,’ a select few would state otherwise. During the winter of 2005 Undercover presented ‘T,’ an esoteric collection that incorporated the concept of deconstruction and reconstruction. From the religious symbology on the runway to the designs of fictional German bands under the equally fictional record label ‘Undercover Records,’ many found 'T' to rival the likes Undercover’s earlier collections by a long shot. Many found it to be reminiscent of Maison Martin Margiela’s work; this is not a surprise given that Jun Takahashi was influenced by Martin himself as well as Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. In commemoration of this collection, the Cream Spring Edition book was released solely through Undercover’s Hong Kong store. It features backstage photography of the construction of the collection, sketches of the various clothes and designs by Jun Takahashi, photos of the runway, various interviews from both Jun and Undercover staff, and more. This combination of aesthetics and valuable information only brings its reader deeper into the world of Undercover and 'T'.

Cream Spring Edition Issue 04

Throughout Undercover’s two and a half decade run, Jun Takahashi printed and had numerous graphics featured on t-shirts, with graphics ranging widely in purpose and aesthetic. In Undercover's 'TGRAPHICS' book, many of these unique and wide ranging prints are explored and shown off in both textile and original art forms. The art featured in this book stretches from before Undercover was even its own brand entity, to its more recent work from 2015. Some key highlights include work from Takahashi's time in the Tokyo Sex Pistols, prints from SS2003 'SCAB', AW2001 'D.A.V.F.', and many other celebrated seasons. From punk inspired works to the more high art minded pieces, Undercover has truly done it all.

TGRAPHICS

In 2014, QUOTATION Magazine celebrated Undercover with a special edition showcasing the brand’s legacy. The issue features an exclusive interview with Jun Takahashi, a comprehensive retrospective of Undercover’s collections from 1994 to 2014, a compilation of insights from the brand’s friends and collaborators, and more.

25th Anniversary Under Cover Special Edition, Quotation Magazine

In 2015, Undercover designer Jun Takahashi launched a retrospective exhibition in commemoration of his brand’s 25th anniversary. The exhibition went into great detail on the cult brand’s history and designs, from the early days being stocked in Ura-Harajuku’s NOWHERE store, to an expansive selection of runway looks and designs surrounding the brand’s unique vision. Labyrinth of Undercover was released alongside this exhibition, featuring select looks from all of Undercover’s runway shows, from 1994 to 2015. In addition to the runway looks is also a full list of collections with descriptions of the corresponding themes and meanings. The book eloquently serves as a time capsule through which readers can grasp a substantial understanding of the cult brand's legacy from the 90s to the modern day.

Labyrinth of Undercover

Inspired by progressive German rock bands such as Popol Vuh and Embryo, Takahashi created these bands as a way to explore how music and fashion intersect. Interested in the parallels of religion and fandom, Takahashi compared his shows to joining a commune. 

“Various people play different parts. Some may be producing music; some may be doing art, or even politics. Within my commune, I decided to create five bands to represent different parts of the commune itself. Together with the five imaginary bands, the clothing in the “T” collection act as traditional tribal costumes for my commune.” - Cream Spring Edition, 2006

Central to the collection was the T-shirt, an article of clothing that he considered most important in fashion. For each band, Takahashi created a series of garments built from the base of a concert merch tee. Spliced with other shirts, hemmed and worn upside down, pieced into the shape of other garments, or turned into skirts, Jun was able to turn a simple pattern into a religious experience.

“T” Lookbook

This Spring/Summer 1996 collection from Undercover, easily named 'Under The Cover', welcomes us into the young creative mind of budding designer Jun Takahashi. The book was created along with the collection and gives us a brief look at drawings Takahashi had made in order to design and produce the garments. He used monster-type figures you would see in horror movies as models for the collection. The book shows us behind the scenes photos as well as detailing how the masks and characters were created. The cenobyte-type figures seem as if they are trapped in some colorful prison or hospital and all wore clothing that matched the design of their complex features. The color blocking walls surrounded the figures, sometimes posed with objects and small environments, as if each were in their own cell. 

Under the Cover


Jun Takahashi has always been known as an innovative designer who loves referencing history, culture, and his own personal life in his works. This particular 2011 season is yet another example of this endeavor, as depicted in the 2011 'UNDERMAN' Photo Book. The SS2011 Undercover collection titled 'UNDERMAN' features a fictional hero in the year 20XX who restores lost souls incapacitated by the forces of evil. With the story and costume design by Takahashi and photography by Katsuhide Morimoto, Underman was Takahashi's portrayal of Japanese superheroes through fashion. Besides the extensive clothing collection, Takahashi also created a lookbook using a booklet binder of trading cards and a set of miniature figurines in collaboration with Medicom Toy.

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Exchange Booklet