So far, Undercover‘s Jun Takahashi has presented the best collection of this menswear season. I still can’t believe in its beauty, a delightful balance of refinement, fluidness and tactility. The designer was thinking about the concept of “borderlessness“. “There are many categories, many tribes. I wanted to make it borderless. Because to eliminate conflicts, you want borders to be eliminated – that’s the metaphor. And because I work in fashion, this is how I can express that.” Human unity at a moment of fracture – a theme that isn’t easy to capture through the medium of clothes, but Takahashi did just wonderfully. In the opening section the designer seemed to consider the artist’s uniform, showing a series of loose linen jackets and high-hemmed pants in sky-blue, pink, or off-white. Straps were suspended from the jacket skirts, and the elbows, vents, and other points of physical articulation were bordered by zippers or slits. Some of the garments were printed with images of clouds or smoke. The closing section featured prints of Takahashi’s painted art whose subjects included a looming sphere-headed, many-tentacled entity, and which the designer called “my creature.” On their heads, the models wore either wide-brimmed hats with fishnet veils or headpieces of golden nails or leaves above lace masks across their eyes. Most wore ornate beaded collars at their necks and intriguing little details including brightly colored painted buttons. Later on there was a phenomenal ragged-edged skirt in what looked like an old baroque brocade. Full-length robes and trailing, metal-flecked sari-esque trains and skirts came at the end. “He wanted to provide a men’s collection which also has elements that are feminine,” reported Takahashi’s translator: “because he thinks this border is getting less and less.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!