Running was a way of switching off, but at the same time, it served him as a way to test bench for new materials. His relationship with Nike started a few years before through Hiroshi Fujiwara, the Japanese streetwear guru had launched his first store with Takahashi himself in 1994. His work with Nike through Fragment had created a way of understanding collaborations. However, Nike’s proposal was going through a very different path, as they were relying on Jun Takahashi’s trajectory as a runner.
EXQUISITE FUNCTIONALITY COMES BACK TO GYAKUSOU
When Jun Takahashi, founder and designer of UNDERCOVER, started running in 2008, he also started getting closer to a different way of designing. Through UNDERCOVER he had already pushed the technical qualities of fabrics to their limits, but while he was running, each piece of clothing had to perfectly adapt itself to a functional requirement. Takahashi was as concerned with style as he was concerned with functionality.
Originally, it had been planned to be a small collection for Takahashi’s training group, a group of runners that ran on the opposite direction to the rest. Gyakusou, the name of the collection (that comes from gyaku, wrong path, and sou, running) shortly became an example of a functional design created in order to satisfy the needs of runners, interpreted through the visual language of UNDERCOVER.
What started as a small collection in 2010 has become a classic almost a decade after. Unexpected colours, a system of pockets that allows you to carry coins and keys and a design that moves just as the joints do, remain as the basis that gets renovated throughout each season.
For Spring summer 2019 Takahashi tries to integrate his collection into urban and rural landscapes. Pieces of clothing in natural tones that are designed to be easily stored in their own pockets and with adaptable elements that are completed with a Pegasus 35 Turbo.
