Undercover Rebel Bear Sneakers
Jun Takahashi Top 10
Fashion Designer and Founder of UNDERCOVER
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Jun Takahashi is a pioneering Japanese fashion designer and the founder of UNDERCOVER. Born in the city of Kiryu in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, Takahashi studied fashion design at the prestigious Bunka Academy of Fashion in Tokyo. While there, Takahashi met NIGO with whom he would found the UNDERCOVER label, with Takahashi continuing to develop the label after graduating in 1991.
With the opening of the influential NOWHERE boutique with NIGO in Harajuku in 1993, UNDERCOVER was placed at the epicenter of the Ura-Harajuku movement, thus establishing Takahashi as one of the most prominent designers in the Japanese fashion scene. In 1994, Takahashi also began a brand called A.F.F.A. with Hiroshi Fujiwara although releases were intermittent, eventually being shelved completely. Heavily influenced by punk music, particularly by The Sex Pistols (he played in a cover band during university called The Tokyo Sex Pistols, and he is nicknamed “Johnio” for his resemblance to frontman Johnny Rotten), Takahashi’s initial collections consisted of ripped up, deconstructed, shredded and patched leather jackets and T-shirts, with his style being described as conceptual and challenging.
Other references range from flower bouquets, A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, taxidermy and manga. Debuting at Tokyo and Paris Fashion Weeks in 1994 and 2002 respectively, Takahashi won critical acclaim from the likes of Miuccia Prada, Rei Kawakubo and Suzy Menkes, as well as two prestigious prizes awarded by the major Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
Although Takahashi describes his own aesthetic as “strange, but beautiful,” his designs have also proved commercially successful, netting him coveted relationships with the likes of Uniqlo via the UU label, with Nike under the Gyakusou performance running collection, a limited edition digital camera with Canon, and a stall at Kawakubo’s Dover Street Market. Takahashi is married and has one son, and creates his designs from his studio in Tokyo called Undercoverlab.
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Latest Collections
New from Jun Takahashi’s label Undercover comes these Rebel Bear sneakers. Coming in several
Diane Pernet recently sat down with famed Japanese designer Jun Takahashi to talk about his
Keeping in tune with his Spring/Summer campaign entitled “Neoboy & Poptones”, Jun Takahashi
Transported from its original days in the 90s, NOWHERE represented an early base of operations
The joint effort of NIGO (A Bathing Ape) and Jun Takahashi (Undercover) will see an opening at
At Undercover’s December 7th “The Sound and the Fury” gathering in Hiroshima, Undercover
Originally conceived during their early years in the business, friends and collaborators NIGO
Another meeting of Japan’s fashion elite with Nike, we are given a preview into an upcoming
In celebration of their 13th anniversary, one of Japan’s original designer toy and
On the heels of an article regarding John
Jay & Hiroki Nakamura comes some old school footage regarding the Harajuku movement as created and shaped by some of the biggest names to come out of Japan’s fashion industry. Last Orgy2 represented a video segment in which the likes of Hiroshi Fujiwara (Fragment Design), Nigo (Bape), Jun Takahashi (Undercover) and Hikaru (of Secret Base) would speak and offer insight on topics that they found appealing. Among the videos is a showcase of Nowhere, a store founded by 2 Go (Nigo) and Jonio (Jun Takahashi). Although the store originally sold exclusive and hard to get items, their lack of sales led to the creation of their own personal lines. A further compliment of videos can be seen through Youtube user piroshiki99 here and here.
Source: Slam X Hype
This Saturday, Undercover will start releasing their ‘08 Spring/Summer collection which is called “Summer Madness”. The collection will be sold at the Undercover store in Aoyama as well as the Isetan department store on the 26th. But for now, here’s a look at some t-shirts that will be dropping this weekend only at the Aoyama Undercover store. These include some one off tees meaning only one t-shirt of that design will be ever produced. If you’re in Japan, definitely check it out.
Source: Jun Takahashi
The latter half of 2007 produced some extraordinary sights in Burma as tens of thousands of Buddhist monks protested against the actions of the government. Thousands of monks would become detained while others would succumb at the hands of military officials despite their peaceful demonstrations. Using the voice behind his popular label Undercover, Jun Takahashi designed the Free Burma T-shirt to bring awareness and reinforce his stance behind the monks of Burma. The t-shirt will be available through outlets such as Undercover shops in Taipei and Hong Kong starting January 3rd.
