I have issues with the latest line of punk-inspired clothing by designer Jun Takahashi and his label, UNDERCOVER. Many of the pieces in Takahashi’s Spring/Summer 2015 UNDERCOVER SS15 collection feature images of beloved 70s CBGB’s band, Television and artwork from two of their albums, 1977’s Marquee Moon, and 1978’s Adventure. While the clothes are clearly impeccably tailored and visually stunning to behold, I’m just not sure I really like seeing Tom Verlaine and the boys’ faces displayed in such a dramatic way on high-end clothing.
Certainly the clothes make a statement. That statement being, of course: “HERE I AM.” Who would wear these simultaneously splendid and yet terribly tacky togs? Maybe a higher class of “pickup artists” do their “peacocking” in these clothes?
When the line made its debut back in July for a small group of Takahashi’s friends and family at his showroom in Paris, Thom Yorke of Radiohead was the DJ (Takahashi designed t-shirts for Yorke’s project, Atoms for Peace in 2013 that retailed for a cool $77 dollars). UNDERCOVER’s t-shirts routinely retail for over $150 dollars, so start there and work your way up if you’re interested in sporting any of Takahashi’s Television inspired fashion creations. A new flatscreen would be cheaper.
More after the jump…