Jun Takahashi Requests the Pleasure of Your Virtual Company

If you consider Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto the reigning king and queen of Japanese fashion, with Issey Miyake a pasha-at-large and Junya Watanabe next in line to the throne, then Jun Takahashi of cult brand Undercover is one of Nippon’s fine little princes. That doesn’t mean Takahashi is a baby. He’s 42 and attended Japan’s sacrosanct Bunka Academy of Fashion in Tokyo (where Kenzo Takada trained) along with Nigo of A Bathing Ape—that must have been quite a year! But despite his age, Takahashi is a young designer with a street-smart and performance-art approach to fashion; he has attracted a hip following in Japan, where Undercover has its own stores, and among the usual completely-entranced Japanese fashion freaks worldwide.
 
Takahashi has shown his tricky, trompe l’œil Undercover collections in Paris off and on since 2002, but he skipped the French runways this season. Perhaps that’s because he’s busy over at Uniqlo headquarters. Undercover is the Japanese giant’s new guest designer after Jil Sander’s +J for Uniqlo which finished up this fall. The first Undercover collaboration for Spring 2012 launches next February in Uniqlo stores worldwide.
 
While we await that, Takahashi invites all Undercover lovers to view the show live on Saturday October 22 at 10:22 Tokyo time. To arrange this, go to undercoverism.com and register to receive the password. After the show, Undercover’s first official website will launch.