Looking back, she does kind of regret asking such a bland question of a world-class designer, but you have to start somewhere, right? Her regrets don’t stop there: her next move was to – again apparently – rub the beautiful bald head of Go, Jun’s business partner. With that not kicking the conversation into action, SaraWaka resorted to online-dating 101 questions such as: “So… what do you do for work…? What brings you to Paris…?” It was as interesting as it sounds, like two awkward overseas students on their first ever trip to a night-club. Apparently, in lieu of a simple enchanté, her first words to poor Jun were drawn from some old hippy dictionary or something: “I feel such a strong connection to you all…” It had been one of those nights. SaraWaka was introduced to Jun in the Parisian night-spot Club Silencio by her half-French-half-Japanese friend Ben. In 2013, he collaborated with Uniqlo to create UU, which rolled out across 11 markets. In 2010, he announced a collaboration with Nike entitled GYAKUSOU. He made his Paris debut in the Spring/Summer Collection in 2003, following up with annual appearances ever since. With his unique worldview and cutting-edge style, he garnered fierce support amongst young people, and was a front-runner during the 90s UraHara movement, a movement based in the very same area of Harajuku. It turns out the ‘Nowhere’ is actually in the trendy Tokyo district of Harajuku (coolest fashion area), and with the support of the founder of A Bathing Ape, things started to pick-up for UNDERCOVER. Momentum behind UNDERCOVER really began to take hold in 1993, when young Jun teamed up with everyone’s favourite purveyor of primate couture Nigo to open up a store called NOWHERE. But it all started with the fashion brand UNDERCOVER, which he founded together with Ichinose Hironori, while still studying at the Bunka Fashion College, Tokyo. ![]() From humble beginnings in the lush mountainous of Gunma in Japan he now operates on the global stage with annual collections at Paris plus mainstream collaborations with Nikeand Uniqlo. There were spirits here, and ears on baseball caps, and nobody cared how late it was and how far away the Raf show would be because it was very good: the product of thought and culture and feeling, made wearable.Designer Jun Takahashi is a big deal. ![]() But the chrysanthemum dresses were beautiful, and the broader nomad costume totally gender-neutral: a state of mind. The women’s wear was an oddity in that Takahashi had included it because the role of the feminine (pretty toxic) was such a keynote in the source narrative. The money-shots were the puffer jackets and sweats featuring images from the movie, and the great tatterdly layered tweed pieces. This is all hyper-philosophical hoo-ha, of course. There was also something almost Catholic in the overall insinuation of self-flagellation post-seduction that was discernibly heterosexual and a touch hypocritical (tragedy narratives always blame a fatal flaw instead of calling out the agency of choice). There were elements of uniform, something sherpa-ish, a definite Mongol nod (confirmed by Takahashi), and more broadly a sense of wandering quest. Takahashi said this was “all Japanese,” but some of the tailored pants and red-and white looks seemed to nod to English and Nordic dress, too. ![]() Perhaps because my best-loved and researched Japanese clothing reference is Yohji Yamamoto-the daddy-some of the nomadically layered silhouettes here reminded of his mischief-making vagrant runway alter-egos, which are themselves rooted in Japanese tradition. Within these divertingly tortured physical exertions unfolded a great collection. The final section, witch-free, saw rope-man/Washizu awakening and running, but (in a mirror to the famous closing scene of Throne of Blood) being encircled by arrows (which fell from the ceiling to the floor, very impressively) as a metaphor for the inescapability of consequence. In the second dance-section hot-and-needs-a-blowout witch is joined by two secondary hot witches (Christina Guieb and Candela Capitan) who wend witchily and proximate to rope-man/Washizu, before totally ensnaring him and leaving him upon the mountain top on which they were until recently enchantedly bound.
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