Jun Takahashi

Japanese designer Jun Takahashi founded clothing brand Undercover in 1990. A progenitor of the now-global streetwear movement, Undercover showed for the first time at Tokyo Fashion Week in 1994 and debuted in Europe at Paris Fashion Week in 2002. Numerous and wide-ranging collaborations include collections with Nike and Supreme; Undercover’s first comprehensive book was published by Rizzoli this past summer.

1. AKAHIGE DAN (RED BEARD TROUPE)

   About forty years ago, four of my best friends from elementary school formed this troupe, perhaps best described in Japanese as a shirouto (amateur) hentai (pervert) seisaku (production) dan (troupe). As a child, I got to know quality music, movies, and counterculture with them. My creativity and distorted mind-set were cultivated by and with this group. We are still active and get together secretly.

   Jun Takahashi with the Akahige Dan (Red Beard Troupe), ca. 1983.
2. NOBUHIKO KITAMURA

   Kitamura is the founder of Hysteric Glamour, the Tokyo-based cult brand established in 1984 that links fashion and subculture. Back in the early 1980s, there were no such brands connecting underground culture with high style and dress. He gained tremendous support from rock musicians and actors all over the world, and is one of the most important figures I have followed throughout my career. Now, he is like an older brother to me and we are extremely close.

   Hysteric Glamour logo.
3. REI KAWAKUBO

   She broke down the concepts, protocols, and stereotypes of design. When I was in fashion school, I saw her Comme des Garçons Autumn/Winter 1991–92 “Chic Punk” show in Tokyo. It blew my mind. She is my mental master.

   Look from Comme des Garçons Autumn/Winter 1991–92 “Chic Punk” collection.
4. SEX PISTOLS

   When I was in middle school, I borrowed the Sex Pistols’ first and only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, from my friend. Its cover art, title, songs, sonic style—everything about it—made a lasting impression.

   Cover of the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols (Virgin Records, 1977).
5. VIVIENNE WESTWOOD’S SEX AND SEDITIONARIES

   I soon discovered that the Sex Pistols were wearing clothing made by Vivienne. The brash yet sophisticated designs shocked me. They took root in my core.

6. MARTIN MARGIELA

   When I was a student (around 1989–90), I was astonished to see clothes by the not-yet-famous Margiela. Narrow but sharp shoulder widths, unconcealed darts, long uncut threads from lockstitching: At first glance, a garment might have appeared normal, but every piece was completely original and defied convention.

   Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 1990 presentation, Paris, October 19, 1989. Photo: Jean-Claude Coutausse.
7. YUSAKU MATSUDA

   Matsuda passed away at a young age. When I was in elementary school, all of his performances—movies, television, and music—impacted me tremendously. I have never found another actor like him anywhere in the world. You may know him from his last movie role, as the yakuza gangster Sato in Ridley Scott’s Black Rain (1989).

   Ridley Scott, Black Rain, 1989, 35 mm, color, sound, 125 minutes. Kogi Sato (Yusaku Matsuda).
8. YUYA UCHIDA

   A rock musician and producer who has been making outlaw-style work in the Japanese music and entertainment scenes since the 1960s, Uchida traverses underground culture and mainstream pop, bridging the gap with verve. At seventy-seven years old, this great man is still active.

   Yuya Uchida, 2016. Photo: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/AFLO/Alamy.
9. JAN ŠVANKMAJER

   Ever since Kitamura (of Hysteric Glamour) told me about the Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer about ten years ago, I’ve been fascinated by his work. While gathering inspiration for a collection in the spring of 2005, I went to the Czech Republic to meet him. After that, when he came to Japan, we had dinner together and our conversation was published in the magazine Eyescream. I was taken by his unique ability to express the grotesque and the contrary, but also cuteness and even human love.

   (Jan Švankmajer, Darkness Light Darkness, 1989, 35 mm, color, sound, 8 minutes.
10. MY PARENTS

    Regardless of whether I was listening to them or not, my parents have always warmly watched my freewheeling activities. I appreciate them and there is nothing more to say! (Laugh.)