Named “Interface” after the 1977 album by French elect-rock band Heldon, this menswear collection delivered fresh takes on some classic Undercover themes. Wandering around the showroom was a model wearing a technical jacket with that album’s very Daft Punk prefacing cover printed on its front. And on the backside of a pair of gauntlets plus a long-sleeve T-shirt was printed an image of Faust, the so-called “German Beatles.”
It was fun flipping through the rails of clothes that were in some ways Jun Takahashi’s clothes-played cover versions of the music he was referring to. There was an intersection of tradition and subversion in a superlight double faced camel duffle coat lined in check, or a punkishly triple zippered tartan blouson worn with a kilt. The jeweled gloves and baseball cap placed on a table across from this look were positively baroque. Lurex cardigans were teamed with sock-uppered sneakers co-produced with Grounds that sat on bulky moulded soles.
Domestic, cozy items like brushed cotton pajamas were printed with a young girl and her beheaded teddy bear. A soft cotton field jacket in olive was backed with a dark gray knit section. There was a camel cotton informal suit printed with micro-dogs. “Delusional Behaviour” was scripted on the back of a black denim parka.
Visiting a showroom instead of watching a runway always feels tantamount to experiencing a rehearsal rather than a performance. But this Undercover experience still transmitted a fascination for the esoteric, mirrored by a disaffection with the ubiquitous. You could imagine a band happily wrapped up in it while recording a concept album in some middle-of-the-country hideaway.
