SaraWaka: Yeah, the GYAKUSOU line is cool. I wanted to make practical running gear with a new sense of design. So I liked the idea of designing something myself. To be honest, I had gone to buy running gear before but couldn’t find anything I liked, to the extent I found myself running in more outdoorsy stuff. Jun: What? Oh, someone at Nike heard that I was a long-time marathon runner and they came over with an offer. SaraWaka: Ahem… so this UNDERCOVER/Nike collaboration GYAKUSOU… how did that all come about? The two of them begin talking passionately about fashion SaraWaka is left in the cold…] , the 100% Italian Cantaro-san is the editor-in-chief of L’OFFICIEL ITALIA. When you become an adult, those parts begin to appear, are necessary even. SaraWaka: So that was the story behind it all! So… what you are trying to say is that as a girl becomes a woman she slowly becomes dark? The concept is that of a woman who experiences a lot and becomes stronger for it. This time we start with an innocent object, all bright and sparkly by the end the gloss had disappeared. SaraWaka: True, in this show also you have this almost angelic cuteness coupled with darkness, reminiscent of the Black Swan. So if we have the theme of elegance for example, behind that we have the grotesque or the insane, and I want to express them as well. Whatever the concept, I want to bring it to life in a number of different ways. “cherry clutch” Yeah, that’s about right. (SaraWaka: You wouldn’t get a metaphor as good as that from the Japanese education system xxx) I still remember the way Jun looked that night, like His Holy Father Pope Francisco himself greeting the faithful, both rich and poor, one by one. The crowd ranged from chief editors of top fashion rags to newbie designers, with Jun being gracious to all. The space was packed and with Radiohead frontman – and friend of Jun’s – Thom Yorke, performing DJ duties for the night, the space was buzzing. Wakapedia’s team were also invited to the UNDERCOVER Presentation Spring/Summer Collection 2015. Who hasn’t done that, right? Right?!!? Just another night that clearly illustrates to SaraWaka’s friends that perhaps a little longer in the straight-edged Japanese education system might have done just a little good. 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.
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