Japanese streetwear label Undercover has been churning out Nike collaborations in impeccable style for almost a decade, including, most recently, an avant-garde take on the classic Daybreak runner. While we are all familiar with Undercover’s clean, capitalised logo – and its equally crisp collaborations – how well do you really know its founder? In today’s article we’re lifting back the veil to analyse the history and heritage of one of modern streetwear’s most respected designers: Jun Takahashi.
Jun Takahashi
Up the Punks
Takahashi was born in 1969, in the Japanese city of Kiryū. He reached adolescence during the 1980s, at a time when Japan had become well and truly infatuated with western culture. During this period, Japanese youths – Takahashi included – were drawn to the defiant sounds and aesthetics that defined the punk and hip hop genres. He became enamoured with the punk scene, embracing the rebellious attitudes and fashions flaunted by the likes of the Sex Pistols and Vivienne Westwood. His love for Johnny Rotten and Co. grew so strong that, at one point, Takahashi wound up as the lead singer of a cover band called the ‘Tokyo Sex Pistols’. With an appreciation for the punk scene’s unconventional fashion burning strong, Takahashi decided to take his passion to the next level in 1988 by enrolling into Japan’s now-legendary Bunka Fashion College: an establishment that has served as a vital stepping stone in the careers of countless fashion design designer, including Junya Watanabe and Yohji Yamamoto to name a few.
Going NOWHERE
Takahashi’s studies would naturally provide him with a strong technical foundation to make his start in the fashion world, but there was an added benefit Bunka provided out of pure coincidence: a close friendship with the one and only Nigo. As luck would have it, Takahashi and the A Bathing Ape mastermind wound up attending the same school in 1990 and united over their similar interests, including a shared appreciation for outlandish fashion. This fortunate friendship would later prove well worth the price of admission, but Takahashi was less than pleased with the formal education that Bunka had to offer. He was vocally dismissive of the knowledge offered by his teachers – given they were significantly older than Takahashi and their concept of style was rooted in tradition – leading him to believe that they had little to offer of value in terms of subjective opinion. With Takahashi willing to concentrate only on the practical teachings that Bunka had to offer, he and Nigo could be found spending much of their time outside of class frequenting local concerts and nightclubs.
In 1993, the talented duo would turn their friendship into a business relationship with the launch of retail venture NOWHERE in Tokyo’s Ura-Harajuku shopping district. The store – which was reportedly launched on a budget of just ¥400,000 (roughly €3400) – would eventually provide a platform for Nigo and Takahashi to debut their respective iconic fashion labels: A Bathing Ape and Undercover. In Nigo’s own words, NOWHERE’s aesthetic and design language was, at its core, a combination of both brands, serving to embody their collective approach to fashion. NOWHERE launched on April 1, 1993, with its original inventory consisting of a limited selection of early Undercover pieces, along with a range of American clothing and footwear personally curated by Nigo. Takahashi conceived Undercover together with fellow Bunka classmate Hinori Ichinose after having been inspired by the work of Commes des Garçons. Undercover’s debut offerings consisted of vintage apparel that was distressed and modified with a heavy dose of punk inspiration.
Celebrity Status
Like many of the now-legendary stores and brands to emerge from Ura-Harajuku during the 90s, NOWHERE proved to be the right store in the right location at the right time. The district, colloquially known as ‘hidden Harajuku’, was considered something of an underground goldmine amongst Tokyo trendsetters. The district was populated by a mass of independent boutiques during this time, with a strong focus on the western-influenced hip hop and punk scenes popularised by the city’s defiant youth. In turn, the district became an increasingly popular meeting place among Tokyo’s teens and young adults, with NOWHERE them drawing them within its doors like moths to a flame. In light of the store’s popularity, Takahashi and Nigo were blessed with a column, that they dubbed ‘Last Orgy 3’, within the pages of Asayan magazine. In turn, they used this public platform to promote NOWHERE far and wide.
By 1996, the store’s newfound celebrity status was made clear, when Asayan’s readers selected NOWHERE as their favourite store. Readers also chose Takahashi as one of their favourite celebrities, alongside Fragment Design founder Hiroshi Fujiwara. Prior to this, Takahashi and Fujiwara had formed a collaborative label named AFFA – short for ‘ANARCHY FOREVER FOREVER ANARCHY’. The brand went all in on the ‘70s punk aesthetic, but with a dose of inspiration from the 90s. Each item released by the brand was either handmade or custom made in small numbers, explaining why it never received the same mainstream acclaim as either collaborator’s individual projects.
Fujiwara wasn’t the only acclaimed designer significant in Takahashi’s early career. Also in 1994, he presented his first women’s runway show at Tokyo Fashion Week, where his work caught the attention of Comme des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo. The acclaimed designer was an early fan of Takahashi’s work and, after much back-and-forth correspondence, she ended up taking him under her wing. She served as a mentor to Takahashi, helping him to evolve the brand’s style towards the refined aesthetic it is known for today. She also inspired him to travel to Paris to further spread Undercover’s presence globally, which lead to Colette taking a chance on Takahashi and stocking Undercover’s ‘Exchange’ Collection in 1998.
Moving On Up
Although NOWHERE is regarded as one of the most significant stores in shaping the modern streetwear landscape, its presence in Ura-Harajuku was surprisingly short-lived. Only a few years after opening its doors, NOWHERE moved to a new location in Aoyama. Then, in 2000, Takahashi and Nigo shut up shop entirely. NOWHERE’s closure allowed both its founders to concentrate fully on their independent ventures, which had built up interest throughout Japan by this stage. Both Nigo’s and Takahashi’s brands had also begun to attract notable international attention. At the recommendation of Rei Kawakubo, Takahashi again returned to France in 2002 to present Undercover at Paris Fashion Week, which caused its popularity to skyrocket – a significant moment in establishing the brand’s global appeal.
Undercover continued to climb from strength to strength as the 2000s wore on. In 2009, Takahashi and Nike released their first project together: a sleek Match Classic in conjunction with Fragment Design. In 2010, in response to Y-3’s success in the newly created luxury sportswear market, Nike Global Energy marketing director Fraser Cooke reached out to Takahashi with the idea of creating a Swoosh competitor. Takahashi was chosen for not just his slick streetwear designs, but also for his sincere passion for running. The result was the performance-focused Undercover x Nike offshoot Gyakusou – a word that literally translates to ‘running in reverse’.
Gyakusou, as well as Undercover’s lifestyle-oriented Nike collaborations, would prove immensely successful for both Takahashi and Nike, a trend which continues to this day. The duo’s latest collaborative offering has seen Nike’s OG suede-and-mesh Daybreak silhouette boldly updated, in true Takahashi style. We have seen a number of colourways of the Undercover x Nike Daybreak hit shelves so far, with more expected in the future.
In 2019, Jun Takahashi remains one of Japan’s most exciting streetwear designers and one that has undeniably served to shape the entire scene in his wake. We can’t wait to see what he has cooking up next!
Limited pairs of the Undercover x Nike Daybreak are available right now through Foot District. Head in store or jump online to score your pair of this stellar collaboration while stocks last.